Individuals behind Kenya's top podcasts on Spotify will be smiling all the way to the bank after they were named among winners for the Africa Podcast Fund.
The four will receive a pie of the USD100,000 fund (roughly Ksh12 million) to give their podcasts the much-needed financial boost.
Unveiled on Monday, October 24, the four Kenyan podcasts that made the cut include the Sandwich Podcast, the Messy Inbetween, Mantalk.ke and Nipe Story.
The Sandwich Podcast, which draws the highest listenership in Kenya, is hosted by four creatives namely Joan, Kibz, Nyamita, and Owen.
The show covers topics that include life experiences and anecdotes, and sometimes features other guests.
The Messy Inbetween is hosted by Murugi Munyi and Lydia Mukami who use their lived experience to cover and offer advice about love, money, work.
Mantalk.ke, on the other hand, recognizes the need for male-led conversations around issues such as toxic masculinity, fatherhood, feminism, dating, and self-care. It is hosted by Eli Mwenda and Oscar Koome.
Nipe Story, which is hosted by Kevin Mwachiro, endeavors to give a voice to written African short stories.
In total, 13, content creators will receive assistance from the fund across the continent which also covers South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana.
"The recipients of the fund are independent emerging podcasters with growing audiences. We focused on supporting podcasts that showcase a range of voices, formats, languages, and content from hosts of all genders.
"Our goal is to help platform African creators on a global scale and shift the historically restrictive view of stories about the continent," read the statement in part.
Since its launch in Kenya, Spotify also upended the fortunes of Kenyan musicians with the most streamed being Sauti Sol, Jeff Kaale and Otile Brown among others.
