Wilfred Kiumi — transcript

He Started With 5 Students. Now He's Building Africa's Answer to Netflix. Wilfred Kiumi, ADMI & Vumi

This transcript is generated automatically by YouTube and has not been checked by a person. It misspells names and mishears words, particularly around Kenyan English and company names, so read it as a guide to the conversation rather than a quotable record. Each timestamp opens the video at that moment.

0:05 Greetings ladies and gentlemen and welcome to episode 51 of the African Do podcast. Today we are very privileged to have a good friend who I've been trying to get on the podcast for a long time but he's been in and out of the country and I finally managed to get him here and uh we have our guest ba Wilfred Kumi Wilfred I've known Wilfred for a long time and we'll speak about what he's done in the creative space uh around uh investments in that space Wilfred welcome to the African Dup.
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So I think um like we were talking earlier before I was just reflecting on when I first met you. Yeah.
And I think I I met you uh when I was working at the carnival in a restaurant business and you used to come

0:54
with various service providers either NTV or level one productions to to shoot
either we're having a a famous guest or something but you'd come with a camera crew and all that.
Yeah. So let's start there. Yeah.
Um
how do you find yourself in this space? Where did you come from? Where did you grow up? What did you do in school
to a level where you now found yourself in at the time we met?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um I mean my my journey starts um like in the media industry mostly. I would say started off very young, you know. I was pretty interested in uh um the media space. Yeah.
Or you know the behind the scenes, the making of um so very early on um my uncle used to take me for you know movies, cinemas. Um so that exposure got me interested.

1:48
Um so when I was when when I was in high school
um I was sort of like the de facto you know AV or audio video engineer.
So they need a screen somewhere you sort it out. Yeah. So um that way you know eventually uh when I finished high school I was like you know what am I really you know interested in. So that time it was more like the broadcast industry. Cinema wasn't um a big industry yet. Uh but then I would soon find out actually you know it really existed but you had to find your way into it. Um so most people joined uh journalism.
Yeah. And then they find you know um journalism is not the same as film making.
Yes.
Yeah. It's it's completely different um operations or or workings. Um so yeah um I met uh Mosesto at some point when he came for an interview at uh NTV. Then I was interning. So when I joined uh college um the same month I applied for an internship at NTV. They had just opened. That was the time

2:59
um I think it was 99 [clears throat] 1999.
Um so they had just opened so they were looking for people um interns. So we were lucky we got in uh at that point and there used to be a show a good morning show where Moses Nito who then owned uh level one production came along um and you know he was talking about his work at uh doing more picker box
um brew band game shows those kind of things and I was really interested in um you know getting into that side so I you know I hustled him for his number.
Yeah. And then that time, you know, you would uh I mean, he had a mobile phone, but I didn't have.
So, you would have to go to a call box
to call him.
Exactly. So, I would call him maybe in a week, five times. You promise me. You promise me. So, eventually he told me, "Okay, um go and talk to this lady." So, the production manager um and then they had a production, you know, coming up around that time. That time, um you know, the internship at NTV had just ended. So I was, you know, looking for the next uh the next

4:07
And you're still in school?
Yeah, I'm still in school.
Okay.
Yeah. Okay.
Um Yeah. So luckily most productions like for Picker Box used to take over I mean it used to be done over the weekend.
So we would be working over the weekend and uh back to school on Monday. Okay.
Yeah. And you know then then of course Moses would pay us. So in school were the people sponsoring people for
lunch. The bowlers. [laughter] Yeah. And [clears throat] I know I think you remember a good friend of mine as well, Mark Mos. So we're in the same class.
Yes.
So that's how we started. We are I would say among the first few people to go freelance
um even after college.
Okay.
Yeah. But my journey before that you know um during you know that period when you finish high school and college you don't know you know your parents don't have money to take you to school.

4:58
Yes.
I got myself into hairdressing. So I worked as a hairdresser for a few years. I I had actually started even when I was in high school.
Okay.
Part time.
What? Babaring or?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I do women here as well.
Oh wow.
Yeah. Just learning uh on the go. Um yeah. So luckily those two years or the 3 years transition from high school
to college helped me at least you know I kept myself busy.
Yes.
Yeah. Okay. Um and after that um eventually now you know I started you know winning myself off the hairdressing or the you know barber shop and then moving more towards the media side.
Okay.
Uh and establishing ourselves as you know freelancers. Um
so when you graduated

5:43
Mhm.
what what did you do? You know did you take the traditional route and go applying for jobs and looking for jobs? You already had relationships with level one productions with others. you you I'm sure by the time you are finishing you are uh people the market now knows you exist. So what did you do?
Even the day we were graduating we had come from a shoot the previous night.
Oh wow.
We were shooting I think a music video with Susan Kibokosia.
Um and you know the morning off uh just went straight home, changed. I think I even got a mark cuz I burnt myself with an iron box trying to iron on a shirt. Mhm.
Um and then you know went straight to u um the graduation. But the good the advantage like you say is that we had already started those connections very early on. Um so it was pretty easy for us to join the industry. We were already sort of like freelancing and working. Um the thing is at that time the industry wasn't uh that big. So you people knew each other very well. So you know if some a gig comes up someone will you

6:47 know call you up um because they know your skill or of course you have to be dedicated and show you know what you um what you're able to do. The advantage is that before I joined NTV you know actually when uh between the transition between uh NTV and level one um there was a Christian organization called Good News Productions of uh Red Hill.
Yeah. Um and there when I went there sort of like a a trainee there was a a gentleman there called Bob who really help you know trained me a lot. Um gave me all the like I had the that that time worldass equipment all to myself.
Yeah.
To play around with. Uh they had like three cameras, they had a studio, they had um all kind of gear. Um so I would you know I I had enough uh practice on my own. I would take the camera outside. So I I I would I was allowed to play around of you know with those equipment. Um so that also gave me the foundation. So by the time I was going to level one already had some skills. Yes.

7:53
So you know but of course you still started a cable boy. You know you're the camera assistant.
Um you you're cleaning up cables. Um sometimes you would miss class on Monday because if we shut up over the weekend, Monday is cleaning day.
Yes.
Yeah. For most um for most equipment or for most companies.
So on Monday we are cleaning up um or you would go to school on Monday morning and then afternoon you're going to clean up.
Yeah. So we started no uh from the bottom completely.
And and what are you studying in school? What are you studying specifically to? I was studying uh journalism basically production but mostly uh more towards journalism but I never practiced journalism.

8:35
Okay.
Because as soon as I got introduced to this other side of film um
you know this other one didn't make sense for me.
Yeah.
Because that time we're shooting you know massive big commercials you know Kenya breweries KBL then they were thematic you know. So a commercial would take like one week to shoot. Yeah,
big big commercials. They would bring a lot of uh you know directors from abroad, cinematographers from abroad. They were shooting on film cameras. So the discipline and the training there was you know more than I could ever get uh in a training institution.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay. So you graduate.
Yeah.
What does life after graduation look like for you? Um so after graduation we moved basically into freelancing and I freelanced for maybe another five years or so working on

9:29
and you're a freelance what? Freelance cameraman. Freelance
freelance camera and sound.
Okay.
Yeah. So I was doing sound um and and and camera as well. Um sound then people used to fear it but I was pretty comfortable with it. um because if you mess up on you know with sound then
there's no production at that time uh it was very sensitive because productions were quite expensive. So people would as long as you show you have you're comfortable with sound then you're almost on every production.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay. Now let's come into the meat of of the podcast I guess. Um, and while you're doing this, you then decide that you want to teach. First of all, before we get to the actual setting up of the school and teaching, what is it that you saw

10:20
that made you say, "Okay,
I need to share [clears throat] this knowledge that I have or I need to help people
learn." What what is the gap or what is the the opportunity or gap that you saw that you wanted to fill?
Yeah. Um so after um freelancing for a few years um we started off a company with a friend of mine
um Faright Productions um that time we were based at Jamhuri or where you know uh film studios.
Wow.
Yeah. Um so we started off a company we were you know uh doing different kind of production servicing for both local and international
productions. Um but then I got a you know at one point I got a chance to direct some stuff for Kenya Power and during that process I realized actually everything I do so effortlessly

11:11
um people struggle you know you you you get uh someone to to do sound for you you can see they're struggling. So you're on the director's chair but then you can see there's you know like things are not going the right way. So you you you're sort of like do I go help out or do I you know concentrate on or direct or whatever and it was quite frustrating during that process.
Um and then it happened um after that I think at some point um I also used to freelance for um a company called Ginger Inc. Um and there's this famous uh director German director Tom uh Tom Tinka. Yes. who came to um work on a a project or charity project
and through that project is like why are you not making films you know you know can I put together a team and help you make a film um so Ginger in asked me okay can you train someone um we have a we you know we have an opportunity to make a short film um this film called Soulboy and I was like okay we have an opportunity to make a short film um we need you to led the sound department, but can you train two guys on the job?

12:22
Mhm.
Um, and that time I had just come from uh a production in uh for BBC in Arushia.
Yes.
And I mean even working through that process, I was really, you know, um um arching or eager to to give or to transfer some of those learnings to someone. So I said, "Yeah, sure." So we shot over maybe two weeks um that short film. Um, so I and then through that process I was able to train two two guys during the production and I was like okay actually maybe I have a way to um I can do the because within a few days or you know the fourth or fifth day these guys were now the ones running the show.
Yeah.
Yeah. So within a week I was able to train someone to be able to now handle of course with supervision

13:11
handle the sound for this film.
Yeah. Um and that gave me the you know the urge to maybe find a way to to train after that is the opportunity to do um so they would partner with um another so they partner with Tom and um they sort of started um an organization called one one fine day. one fine day would uh then organize master classes master master classes with some you know um experienced guys from Germany would come here and they would you know work with different people from different departments out of that process is how Nairobi life Nairobi halfife came about.
Okay.
Yeah. Uh but this now was really meant for people who are already in the industry and just needed um some upskilling.

14:02
Yes. Um and so I was like okay so what happens to those people
who are who've never joined college or coming off college but they still don't have the right um qualifications to join this master classes. So that's how I decided you know what maybe um I can start off small you know even with five guys 10 guys um start training uh um so I started investigating and looking for a name for the school registration. So I think in 2011 is when I registered.
And what did you call it?
Uh then it was called Jamhuri Film and Television Academy and Jamuri Lily was more because
because where your location
exactly exactly um but even more it wasn't
what are you teaching?
Well film uh I was teaching film because that's what I knew best. But then the good thing about film is that everyone or sort of like you know different uh people from the creative industry can find themselves working in in film very easily because if you do you know construction set design is your you know your department or production design. If you do science probably you know there's someone doing a documentary about

15:16 history or you know science stuff or so everyone can work in film. if you're doing music, um animation, graphic design. So film is like it brings everyone together. So that's how it's you know uh it started off but then of course eventually would expand the courses. So we started off as Jamuri Film and Television Academy. Um and then we started the the classes are very small even this space is bigger.
Yeah.
Yeah. It was like
And where did you get students? How [laughter] did you get students? Where did you get them?
And how many students did you start with? So luckily that time as well maybe it's opportunity or a perfect timing um digital advertising had just started you know Facebook yes

16:00
Instagram wasn't even there I think but Facebook was there so you and Google was there so you could
start off like digital ad because advertising on newspapers were very expensive I remember I spent
maybe I um you know like that small strip on the newspaper down there.
Yes. and I paid like 80k. I was like, "Hey, I can't do this."
Continuous.
I tried, you know, doing those small boxes on the, you know, the the finer back pages of um the the newspapers and then you try today, you try standard nation, whatever it was, it's just working. It wasn't working. Um so luckily, you know, Facebook would start then. So I started teaching myself how to actually advertise on this thing. Uh so my journey for digital marketing started there.

16:48
Yeah. So I'd start having to learn how to actually do the you know um you know um design campaigns and run them. So eventually would we would open the school on the 6th of February 2012.
Okay.
With only five students.
Mhm.
Those were the five initial students. And even then on the day of the opening I wasn't even there. Um because then I had hired someone to help me um you know um teach as well. That time I had I used to follow the Kenya rugby team as well for super sport. Yes.
So that time we had gone to Vegas
and uh New Zealand.
So I'm traveling between New Zealand and Vegas and of course you lose I think you lose a day like 12 hours in between traveling. So that was the time the orientation day was h you know was happening. So I didn't even I I I wasn't even there on the orientation day.

17:44
So I'm waiting until the next day to find out how did the orientation go
and I was like oh only two three students showed up
of the five
of the five.
Yeah. But then I say you know what we started
started. Yeah.
Yeah. The whole
So how was that journey of now educating people passing sharing your knowledge?
Yeah. I think it's the most fulfilling thing you can ever do. Uh because you can see someone from you know zero knowledge to you know gaining confident and being able to um you know operate equipment comfortably. Some of those five the the first five some of them are already even hiring other people to date. Um I think one of them is in New York. um some other guy also runs like a production house does a lot of live

18:31 streaming for for events and you know uh different kind of productions. So for me I I think that's the most satisfying thing and fulfilling thing to ever that I could ever do.
So Jamuri you said it was called Jamuri
Jamuri Film and Television Academy.
So Jamuri Film and Vision Academy grows and evolves.
How how do the numbers of students grow? How is the journey of different courses that you offer? How does that evolve?
Yeah. So in the maybe in the second year uh we had gotten to about 40 40 students.
Okay.
Um and that's the same time I you know I would meet my um co-irector or partner or co-founder um Leila Masharia. Yes.
Um and would you know rebrand the whole school to now Africa Digital Media Institute or ADMI.

19:23
Yes. and then of course now roll out some more courses.
So Leila came in as an investor.
Yeah, she came in as an investor. Um that time I wasn't I mean I had tried to you know look for investment but um I was really determined to go solar. Yeah, exactly. But then there was there's one lady I advertised she used to run um a magazine um and and that magaz entertainment magazine. So I advertised on that magazine. So she remembered me. So they met in church with Dr. Leila was like, "Okay, I'm interested in getting into the education space. Um, do you know any investment opportunities?" So she's like, "Oh, I actually know someone who maybe you should meet."
So Dr. Leila comes um and we meet up. We actually invited them on one of the productions where the students were doing a um a short film and she came um on set and you know just to see for herself and then from there we continued conversations. Maybe one year later is when close and you know um now uh officially partner and rebrand to ADMI.

20:30
I like that story because it's something that we don't discuss often. Yeah. because um this is an individual now speaking about your your your co director Dr. Masharia uh who basically is backing local
y
and not you know safe investments. We tend to try and curate that everyone's just buying land but this is an it would be interesting to even talk to her in the future and see now her thinking what was the thinking that made her even ask the friend
I'm looking for an investment in education. Yeah. But now ADMI is a I dare say it's a big it's a big brand you know it's it's it's it's an established brand. Um how old at the moment?
So uh we started in 2012 20 2012. Uh so we are almost 15 years.

21:26
Yeah 15 years around the corner.
Exactly.
Okay. And you're no longer at I was reading up on you last night. You're no longer at Jamuhuri. You're now in the CBD. Yeah. And you have are you in multiple locations or it's just or maybe just tell us about now the transition you've now got an investor
you know so you of course it's not all up to you it's not all on your shoulders your thinking about the institution strategically between two people who who own the business. So maybe walk us through that journey your learnings and what you went through to to the ADMI that we see and has a stellar reputation today. Yeah, the I think the biggest challenge for you know people who want to do business and have never done

22:11 business before is you know setting up the structures and all that. So I think when you're looking for a partner, you can get someone who is able to help you um set that up. Um is you know it's important because I had never been employed. So and here I've started this thing and you know you're dealing with people you you know um things come start coming at you. Um so formalizing now the institution now to be you know uh more uh proper business um with even with a board. Um and then eventually you know rebranding completely and moving location that time as well because now we were growing by the third year I think we had gotten to about 80 students going to 120 or whatever but then
Gong road was being built um constructed so it was chaotic for students to to get there.

23:02
Exactly. So we were like okay maybe we need to rethink about space. Shalom where we were Shalom House was really perfect because they had a nice garden very quiet but then now it was becoming chaotic for students to get there.
So we would move to CBD I think in 2017
um uh 2016 and and set up now the campus in uh at Kakton House.
Okay. Um and then you know formally now moved everything to CBD. Um we the the student numbers grew to about maybe 400 um by 2017 2018.
Mhm.
Yeah. Around that time is also the time I I now decided maybe I need to go back to uh school. Um so I would take a break.
And what did you go to study?
So I went to study film distribution and marketing.
Okay. at Birmingham City University

23:58
or BCU. So I would take off and that I think that that was the first time almost like it felt like taking a break.
Yes.
Yeah. So no more emails
uh no people calling.
What do you leave behind? Now what's the structure at ADMI? Of course you said Dr. Mashari has helped you set up structure. Maybe walk us through what that structure is. Do you have a principal admin? What do you set up in the institution? [snorts]
So we had a full now setup. We had a a principal um we had a finance department uh um admissions department uh faculty um someone taking care of faculty um yeah facilities so yeah so we set up maybe about no even a HR department so
okay
six seven departments
how big is your and and if I was to speak maybe then or now what's your uh staff count how many people work at ADMA and what's ADM am I? And what's your student numbers? I know students numbers change up and down, but what what on average how many students do you have

25:02
at at our highest? Uh and I'll tell you why our highest
um we had about maybe 30 permanent permanent staff 20 25 to 30 you know in between.
Um and then faculty maybe about 70.
Wow.
Yeah. So it became uh quite big. Um and this would you know um grow to a point where now we would need extra space. We would move now to INM um get so the corporate side would move eventually move to INM but then COVID hit.
Oh wow. And then [laughter]
reset did that thing.
Exactly. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. So you find that okay now you have this space beautiful space um you know everything is going well and then all of a sudden you have to rethink everything.
Okay.
Yeah.
And so now you're exclusively at Cton House.

25:54
Correct. Yeah. So we had even gotten another floor.
Okay.
Uh at Kakton House. So we had first floor and third floor
and then uh&m.
Yes.
Corporate offices at&m. [clears throat]
Correct. Masumo in Kak
just across the road.
Yes. Yes. Yeah. And you know it it's a normal thing especially abroad you find that campuses don't have walls.
Yes.
You know people walk I mean you find classes um on one street
you go to another department another street. So you know school is within
Yeah.
the city so it's not like an exclusive place where you have to go through a gate.
Yeah. So we were trying you know that kind of get that vibe.
Exactly. So you could go I mean you you feel like you're part of the city. Um yeah, but then again like I was saying when hit, we had to rethink very quickly. That that was the same time I I mean I had finished um um my school. So I was trying to set up a platform um for distribution because now of course you've gone through this course learned uh what you know uh content distribution is all about. So I was think through

27:02 that process there was an opportunity to apply for an extension for my visa. Um and you know you had to set up like um a business. So you you know you you put in a business plan they review it and then you get sponsored by the same university to get an extension to to set up now that business. So I had actually you know gone back to the UK during that time 2019. So 2020 uh when COVID hit I was just there. So basically I had to now, you know, lock myself in and try and figure out how to um Sorry, I thought I put this off.
Yeah, you had to Yeah, [clears throat] you were saying.
Yeah. So when uh when COVID hit so basically I had to now re you know um um come up with solutions in terms of how do we now continue and I was I think we were very proud because within the first two weeks we were able to transition to an online platform.

28:06
Okay.
And continue um with classes as normal.
Wow.
Very few institutions were able to do that. In fact some of them were calling us and asking how did you how did you guys do it? Yeah.
Exactly. So there's a lot of change around platform even our emailing system everything um within literally two weeks
so there you know um very hectic time but we managed
nothing like a good crisis to help you
and I think that's why I realized actually I love um that kind of challenge I'm a problem solver so
when I see challenges is my you know gear uh shifts. Let let's speak a bit about how the courses and the curriculum in in ADMI evolved
because when you now look at ADMI as an institution and an established institution I I think it's fair to call you a pioneering institution in the sense that you came and you you took you broke down film you know and and that whole space and digital you know which was the new buzzword in a in a Kenyan context

29:19
but you went through. So maybe walk us through how did how was that process internally? You know, what did you determine what you're teaching people? How did you teach it? You know, how do you then go and find people who are competent to be the teachers? Particularly because you're also innovating at the same time. It's a new space. It hasn't existed in the country.
Um, one would argue that all of us are learning it.
Then how do you start teaching it?
Yeah. Um the advantage um with me is that because I was still pretty much involved in the industry, it was very easy to bring in
okay
people from the industry to come and train. M
so they are still the same guys and that um you know basically emphasizes on you know our effort our you know our um style of training which emphasize more on the practical than you know the theoretical because again we are a technical institution.

30:20
Yeah.
So um I brought in a lot of people from the industry. Unfortunately, even with TVETA, you still have to have um people with the right qualifications to train a diploma. You need to have a a level higher.
Yes.
So, you always so it was a struggle to get people to uh you know to to become a trainers. But then you know eventually we started you know getting the right kind of people uh who are like the core and then once in a while now we bring in people from the industry who also don't have time to teach every day. you know they they need regulars compliment but then they come to
compliment okay okay now I also I also noticed or what I've heard from the market is that you do train from the region in the sense that your your students are not just Kenyans your students come from all over the continent maybe speak to us a bit about how that has been where these people coming from because I had I think I was watching something last night and you talking about you have students from Uganda.

31:24
So, how far does that go across the the continent coming into Kenya? And what are your views about Kenya or Nairobi as an education hub for the continent?
We've had students maybe from almost 30 different countries. Wow.
Coming coming to us. Um we've had students from as far as Liberia, um Congo, Uganda, [clears throat] Germany, US, Brazil, South Africa.
Wow.
Um yeah. And we've had to, you know, make plans like now with like uh host providers uh like where to um to host students and you know students are dropped off at uh um in town and then picked up and some of them eventually find their way around um and you know navigate Nairobi I think is very welcoming. Um there's some you know some some some spaces that are a bit more harsh but I think Nairobi is a soft landing for you know for anyone coming

32:22 to Africa the first time or from other regions
so it has everything you know it's very cosmopolitan um you can anyone everyone speaks English even the hawker you know will speak to you if they see that you're a foreigner they'll adapt very they switch code very quickly
so Nairobi is very easy. Um and I think it was it would be much easier to you know facilitate um just like the way people go to India for medical you can have people coming to Kenya um u you know for education unfortunately the system now like getting student visas it's still I mean students will come here it will take them 6 months before they get their
their visa
at immigration.
Yeah it it takes a long time.
Okay. While my process of going to the UK as soon as you know the use the university gives you an um um letter is the letter actually comes from UKV it's like almost like a visa the formality is now just going to apply for the finger

33:27
is that an area of improvement you think for us as a nation yeah if you want to attract more students then we need to sort out those kind of uh systems okay
so it's easier to check that the students can afford to come and pay and you know leave comfortably.
Um you know so you if you check all their bank statements and everything then when you issue a letter it's you know it's a letter um that can be used to apply for the visa in their home country. So by the time they come here all their paperwork is done.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's not like a when they come here, we still have to write letters and send them sometimes even escort them to immigration and say he's been he's our students.
Wow. Let's hope that the right and this is landing on the right ears. [laughter]

34:14
Exactly.
So because I see it as a fabulous opportunity and what I like you have actually touched on what I like about what's happening.
You have people like yourselves who have created these niche training institutions that are very I see it in my space in hospitality. uh Kenya has some of the best hospitality training institutions on the African continent. You then have someone separate like uh Quetu who has and others there are other small imitators of Quetu who have gone and built
similar high standard student accommodation. Yeah. and those with those two things and then you have Nairobi being welcoming then it should it's automatic that this should be something that we think through but um what you have touched on is the user experience because the user experience is where the challenge is but I think that should be a quick fix it can be a quick fix

35:10
so so Wilfred now you am I right in saying that This has become um ADMI now has become uh it's an established business. It works. It has systems. It has proc processes. It has board.
It has a principle. It has investment.
So you are now uh I want us to now pivot to what you move to because I'm I'm sure now uh you are still involved in ADMI but not you know not a dayto-day basis. So what are you working on now or what with your with your training education what are you what are you doing?
Yeah. Um yeah eventually I would uh step aside um now just you know um get involved on the at the board level. So the school you know runs on its own. Um of course they still need uh you know advisory uh um role.

36:11
Yes. So we still you know uh regularly meet discuss plan um like now we are changing things a bit because as well the economy is not doing very well so you find that
you know how can we have to adapt and then also the emergence of AI so there's a whole new shift happening and we've had to adapt now so we we're changing the model to a more hybrid model okay
with boot camps so
we don't have to spend 2 hours 3 hours traveling. Um the same thing for international students, they can now join an online class
virtually virtually. But then when we were doing the boot camps, they can actually travel to Nairobi or you know we can organize special boot camps for those kind of students. So we've we are now having to remodel again and especially because of this threat um not threat threat and an opportunity as well. um uh you know the whole AI business coming along because people are not very sure you know what's going to happen the next the next few years but I

37:14 think now we are starting to see the foundation and the sol you know it's solidifying itself in terms of how AI will play a role in our industry so now it's very clear [clears throat] um that you know you need to retrain you need to learn these new tools um like you know a podcast like this editing is you know It's AI powered. You can edit this episode within literally 20 minutes.
Um, you know, it can chop up all the different angles and and you know, even clean up the audio and all those things. So, yeah, we have to adapt and learn again.
Yeah.
Yeah. But then during that time as well, you know, taking time off, um, I applied for uh a different kind of visa which is called a tech tech talent visa. Mhm.

38:04
And a talent visa um it's one of the few visas I don't know people know about in the UK because again you find that people who travel to UK or abroad usually go for like medical you know nursing and whatever but this one now is meant for technical or or uh people who are in the tech industry
and it also happens to also have the same kind of um um model for people who are in the arts. So you get endorsed um of course looking at your work or the profile of your kind of work you do and then you get a endorsement and that visa is you know you can renew as many times as you want. Uh but that allows you now to go to the UK um and look for investment set up your business um and that's how I ended up back um now with you know through

38:56 this uh visa. Yeah,
maybe if someone wants more information, I'm pretty happy to share how it works.
Um, yeah, so I would set up now this platform that had sort of like pivoted during the COVID period. So, it's a multimedia platform that allows you to um upload or create live streams, uh esports tournaments, uh upload, you know, single video, episodic, a movie, a music video, um audio content, and as well as do uh live commerce. Okay.
So, I've [clears throat] I've I've been building it for the last few years. Um there was some hiccups in between but now I think you know um
and what do you call it?
It's called Voommy Central.
Okay.
Yeah. So if you look at Vumi Central um
what's the thinking behind the name?

39:49
Uh Voomi is you know uh it's Yeah. Exactly. What's what's popping? What's happening? You know what's popular?
So it's the central it's it's the center of what's happening.
Exactly. Exactly. Okay. Yeah. And you can do all kind of kind of content like you know let's say um
a concert you can charge a pay-per-view ticket or let's say a boxing match which which we've actually pivoted and you know piloted and and uh um done that. So you see like what uh speed I show speed was doing here we can easily do on our platform.
Okay.
Yeah. And the same technology um same technology as Twitch you can stream for hours non-stop at you know and the stream adapts to your device.
Um so I think the background of my you know media industry has now helped me to transition into the tech uh the creative tech

40:47
yes
industry. So I've actually had to the last one year um eventually like I was saying once I went back there you get to a point where you're a bit hopeless because you don't know what because the UK is quite competitive the media industry is quite competitive very I mean they have some of the most skilled people um which in any department especially in film and TV.
Yeah.
Yeah. So even getting a job in that department or in that industry is quite hard. So I was like okay um at this point what am I really good at? What can I really um uh you know do um but then again I had been start I had started experimenting with these AI tools uh you know um and starting to learn
actually I'm pretty good at you know building stuff from scratch you know solutions coming up with solutions from scratch. So I started learning how to use uh AI tools and through that process I've probably maybe built like maybe different 10 10 like about 10 apps now

41:52
okay
more than 10 apps now
um and Voom is one of them or VM central is one of them
and I've now sort of like set up um an AI powered u uh development studio now based in the UK. Yes.
Yeah. And why you know some of the advantage when you're setting up some some of those stuff like there is like the and um support for startup is pretty
robust
robust I mean you get credits for you know cloud credits uh for startups you even u the government itself supports you like in terms of the tax rebates that you get um you can actually they can they can give you like now there's something they call Um um basically when you're when you're raising capital and you want to attract investors to come and and buy into your company, the government can actually give uh um uh allow you know investors

42:55 to offset their tax bill by buying your shares.
Oh wow. They get tax credits for investing in your startup business.
Yeah. Yeah. [clears throat] So instead of paying the government they say if you can go and invest in this company we will delay your profit like we will tax your profits when you finally sh sell the shares.
Wow.
So it encourages it encourages people to invest uh
go learn those things so you come [laughter] here. We need those things like I mean we need those initiatives in in our markets like yesterday.
Yeah.
I think what excites me about what you're saying is two things. Yeah. One is that thing that you spoke about last about the things that you are learning

43:38
about best practice for investment for entrepreneurship and for growing the startup ecosystem. I'm a big champion of that knowledge transferring to a local because in the long term like we have seen you do with the transition from Jamuri to ADMI which is now an established institution. I have no doubt that all this knowledge you're getting now can be transferred here and can be executed. But the thing I think the bigger thing
is uh you talked earlier about Nairobi Halflife. Yeah. And one of the guests, previous guests on on this podcast was Tosh. Yeah. Who was the director of Nairobi Halflife and Tosh said something in his podcast episode that has really stuck with me. It's like we need to figure out African distribution models

44:29
and that sounds like what you are that sounds like what you're working on
because I I I I I feel that we are extremely creative. I think it's not in doubt
as Africans. Yeah.
But
we still are pushed on to other portals to show our creativity. Yeah. right now musicians have to end up on Spotify or have to end up you know they they don't have to but if they want a certain quantity of audience so I'm really excited when I hear Africans building portals
which become ecosystems someone built Facebook someone built Instagram someone built WhatsApp
and so I'm hoping to see things like Voommy central now become things that our creative can then showcase their stuff because it's built by us.

45:21
That's the whole idea, you know, about Vumi. It's really finding solutions for our people and our kind of content. We are the center of culture.
Yes.
Yeah. And we should not be begging other platforms to take our content.
Yes.
We we should have. So what I'm trying to do is that um sort of like democratizing that distribution.
Yeah. Because what have what we've done is that we've created a self distribution portal. So you don't need an a sales agent to sell your movie. The way it works, you know, um let's say you make a film and you want it to, you know, to sell to um or to end up at Netflix. You have to work through a sales agent who has, you know, an arrangement with um um uh Netflix or whichever other platform. Um so once they take your movie they will sell it

46:11 to airlines to whatever you know um to Netflix and other platforms. Yes.
And then they take their commission and they they pay you you know the remainder and there can be other agents in between because they're probably like an accounting agent.
Yeah.
Yeah. So by the time the money gets back to you it's you know um it's really sliced and shared out.
Yeah. So what we're saying is okay there's also an opportunity for you before you take it to the agents why don't you make it accessible directly to your audience you already have a following you know someone like Toshi is very well known if he was to make a film today and he wants people to watch it again even those platforms want something that is popular and you know uh that has already hit home

46:57
so you can use a pay-per-view model and you you set it up we've created a way for you to have so you have an a portal Yes,
as a as a creator,
you upload the film,
you set the pricing, you charge the the film, we only take a small percentage of, you know, for the for the platform.
And when you can actually see every sale, you can get an email for every, you know, you can decide when whether you want to get notified for every sale or cumulative, you just want to see your report or your statement, you can download yourself.
Excellent. And when you're ready, click payout comes into your account directly without my involvement. So it's a selfservice platform.
Excellent.
Doesn't need my involvement.

47:42
Oh, this sounds like it would be something when Yeah. Yeah.
And the other thing is you can also allow people to subscribe to your channel. So let's say you make a podcast like this and you have many episodes, you can decide you want people to have exclusive access to it. you know when you launch a a new episode so you can have people subscribing to your channel alone they can also tip your channel and tipping is um constant throughout
so we can maybe we should take a if you can [laughter] do podcast on central
it's coming okay excellent
I told [clears throat] you there's something I'm building so I I will do a demo for you as well
no looking forward to it that that that sounds really exciting

48:25
as we wind down let's talk about a bit about your your lens into the future. Yeah, you're a builder of enterprise. Yeah. Something that I hope the the thinking around this podcast is we hope we can inspire more more Kenyans to become builders of enterprise because I believe quite strongly that true change happens uh through owners of course
not through employees. Yeah. And I think Kenya and Africa at large needs more owners. We need to own this space. So you uh um you have been an educator, you still are an educator as an investor and ADM and founder of ADMI. You're now thinking about um you now have VMI central and and that is evolving. It's a new ecosystem.
So maybe we can tap into your views and how you see where we are going.

49:19
Yeah. Where are we now and what is your length from those two perspectives of
um um education? You've talked a bit about how you're evolving but also now in terms of ecosystem. Where do you see us going as Africans?
Um I would say we need to catch up pretty fast. We are being left behind
and this train is moving fast. Okay. Um and especially the digital, you know, economy, it's moving fast and we are here still trying to figure out regulations and trying to pull everyone down with regulation instead of, you know, um thinking about setting up data centers and you know that kind of infrastructure um because the rest of the world once they take off it it's already happening. I mean AI is revolutionalizing every

50:11 industry and we are unfortunately we are still dependent on those data centers from other regions. Um you know infrastructure like Kza the other day uh we drove that side it still looks a bit dead. Yeah, it should be vibrant, you know, that we should be actually actualizing that dream of Silicon Savannah, you know, it's it's it's not happening
and I feel like Africa is uh choked by regulation, you know. So we we we're held back and we are not able to thrive, you know, uh because again the customers are global right now.
Yeah. So like one of the apps that I've created is um is um an AI um chatbot that you can you know can serve uh over why you know uh WhatsApp uh can serve customers over messenger uh Instagram um you know on your website as and it's constantly talking all you need to do is give it all your uh your knowledge base yeah and it's able to converse with you like a human and the good thing is it doesn't get tired you know 24/7 is available for you right

51:21 now there's maybe a thousand conversations happening like on a if you go to ai website you'll see a chatbot there and it's you know or you chat with a website number I mean a WhatsApp number you have a conversation you can send documents whatever so that industry we need to speed up because again one of the things that fails uh our industry is also you know customer service with an attitude
yes
yeah um so some of these things can be solved, you know, uh um using technology, but also anyone who learns how to use these tools will be way ahead of the game.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay. Okay. Wow. Hey, boss. Uh this is a fabulous conversation. I think one you've given me a lot to think about but also so this last topic that you you you mentioned about the data centers it kind of connects to what we were speaking about earlier

52:20
with the ecosystem.
So would you say that we need h at a policy level some strategic investment because one of the things that I've studied a bit is
uh local capital. I I I I really am keen to build local capital. Yeah. And when you look at Kenya's pension uh space. Yeah.
Um there's a lot of money sitting in Kenya Kenyan pension funds. So should there be like a Marshall plan about building uh data centers and other infrastructures that is locally owned? Is that something that we should be looking at?
For sure. every every region is building their own
um let's say you know a good example is like this this platform let's say VM central and we wanted to serve you know customers um locally so when you click um to watch a movie the seconds it takes you from even you know um that edge or delivery that that content delivery seconds the seconds it takes time to load and all if you had a data center closer that movie will get served faster. So it's you know it still um uh

53:33 enhances the user experience right also ownership data ownership you know you're keeping your own records like now I heard you know we're selling medical data to wherever our medical data is hosted in Europe or US or whatever it shouldn't be you should own your
your data and keep it you know local
um and when you build that infrastructure um you know it allows you as well to think about okay maybe how do we make uh schools more digital how can we help them you know how can every school have Wi-Fi um you know the kind of digital infrastructure that uh makes it effortless for students to learn yeah um and over obviously as well you know when you do that you're also encouraging other investors to invest in that space

54:22 but you have to initiate or give them tax rebates for them to invest in that you know in that kind of space then all of a sudden you'll more investment coming in.
Excellent.
Yeah.
Wilfred kill me. What a fabulous conversation. I think I'll now give you a chance to [laughter] speak to the audience and just tell them should they want to connect with you, connect with your entities, ADMI, VI central, where can they find you, where they can they find, what are the handles, are you on socials so that the the public can then consume what you have to offer. [laughter]
Yeah. Um yeah I mean if anyone is looking uh for training of course uh Africa Digital Media Institute um is the place to be or ADMI um the website is admi.africa uh you can tell even the domain as well has changed from ac.k to now more you know global I mean continental because this is a huge market.

55:17
Yeah. when you're looking for content distribution. Um, check out uh Voommy Central. Um, and especially if you're a creator, link to creators.vientral.com and you you you know, you sign up there and then, you know, we'll help you on board and start, you know, monetizing your content.
Excellent.
Yeah.
Excellent. Wow. Ladies and gentlemen, um that was Wilfred Cumi, African Digital Media Institute and Voomi Central, which is very very exciting stuff. I hope you have heard the challenge local institutional capital holders there about data centers, infrastructure around digital. We need to invest in these things. We have lots of capital. We should be looking at investing the these things for ourselves and not hosting all our data in foreign

56:07 countries. So there's a challenge there for institutional investors and local capital to take up and see if we can take up this space and actually own what we're doing. Ladies and gentlemen, that was episode 51 of the African Duke uh podcast featuring Wilfred Cumi, African Digital Media Institute, Africa Media Digital Institute and Vumi Central, the new baby in town. Check them both out on on on um the social media and uh we look forward to welcoming you at the next episode asenisana. Thank you.