African Digital Art Network is a global group of Black digital artists and has launched the NFT marketplace Nadi.
This platform is designed to allow Black creators and artists to show their talents and to provide a forum where they can enjoy the financial benefits of Web3 throughout the African diaspora.
The platform was announced by African Digital Art Network earlier this month at the AfricaNXT conference held in Lagos, Nigeria. Chinedu Enekwe was also a co-founder of the Nandi NFT Marketplace . Nandi Marketplace was named after Queen Nandi (the mother of Shaka), the legendary king of Zulus.
Enekwe tells Decrypt that the idea for the Nandi Marketplace was born from a conversation he had with Jepchumba (co-founder of African Digital Art Network). Enekwe said Jepchumba was initially hesitant about getting involved with NFTs because no one had offered her a focus on community.
Enekwe is a Howard University School of Law graduate with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Maryland. It’s a way for creators and brands to get paid.
NFTs are non-fungible tokens that can be used to prove ownership of digital files. Osinachi, an African artist, has found creative ways to prosper in this medium. Osinachi created art using Microsoft Word. Christie’s London sold a collection by Osinachi called ” Different Shades of Water”. It was worth more than $200,000
Black creators and artists have had a long history in which they were not able to capitalise on their work. Many were forced into unfair contracts, or accidentally signed away their IP rights. Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam, launched Masterminds of Hip Hop, a series of NFTs to compensate artists. He said that it was time for “respect for the founding fathers of Hip Hop” to be relaunched. “
The African Digital Art Network will also launch the NFT marketplace. Enekwe describes the Nandi Cowry Community as a global community made up of cultural leaders, tastemakers and creators. The community will be joined by a collection of 10,000 NFTs created by Johannesburg-based artist Siniso “R!OT!” Nyoni. These NFTs were created on the Celo proof–of-stake blockchain. Enekwe states that the NFTs will have three levels of membership. The lowest level will be Tribe, then Chief and then Founding. The price range for each tier will be $25 to $10,000 with the Celo stablecoin CUSD.
Enekwe explained that the Celo blockchain is used because of a commitment to being carbon-neutral or carbon negative. The Nandi NFT Marketplace will also add Ethereum to proof-ofstake once Ethereum has reached that stage.
He says, “There are so many Black people who have suffered environmental injustices that it just doesn’t sit right with us to add to their future degradation.”
Enekwe says that while building a marketplace is a good idea, it is not the solution. The solution lies in having the opportunity through our studio to work with brands and other creators – being able to highlight the top Black creators.
