Shahara, which derives its name from the Swahili word Mshahara (salary) and was launched in August 2021 by Africa Uncensored, The Catapult Agency LLP, and Baraza Media Lab, was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted the creative economy as marketing and other events were postponed or canceled. Shahara aims to create a direct relationship between content creators and their audiences by providing a platform where they can publish their work and their viewers can directly support them by paying for it, with the content creator taking the lion’s share of the profits. A Letter To My Younger Self, an audio/visual podcast featuring popular content creator Maxine Wabosha in conversation with inspirational Kenyans about the situations that changed them into the persons they are today, was the first project to premiere on Shahara. Other original content has also been added to the platform, including the Africa Uncensored documentaries Pandora Papers, Crooks & Wombs, and Under Your Watch, as well as Cynthia Abdullah’s documentary Inyumba Yu Mulogooli. Sauti Sol will also share their exclusive content on the platform, beginning with Bien Aime and Aaron Rimbui’s BALD MEN Virtual Experience, an acoustic performance that offers a wonderful story of love, life, fun, and prestige, which is now available for only 100 Kenya shillings on shaharavideos.com Shahara will also launch a series of workshops and tutorials for content creators in the coming months. In addition, later this year, Shahara will provide capabilities that will allow writers, journalists, painters, and photographers to publish their work on the site. Send your work to [email protected] if you’re a content creator or producer looking to make money from your audience.
