The Google News Initiative (GNI) has selected six Nigerian independent news creators to join the Sub-Saharan Africa cohort of the Emerging News Voices Growth Lab.
The news creators are Onlinebanker, Adetunji Films, More Branches TV, Wearegst, Iswellthecapitalist and The Republic. They are among roughly 20 emerging news creators from across the region taking part in the multi-month virtual programme, which runs through late September 2026.
Creator-led digital journalism is changing how Nigerians, especially younger audiences, find and consume news. Social-first channels and digital-native platforms increasingly drive news discovery, yet the newsrooms behind them often run lean, with limited access to the tools, training and revenue expertise available to established publishers. The GNI Growth Lab is built to close that gap.
Over the course of the programme, participants work directly with Google trainers and product experts across four areas:
- AI in the newsroom: hands-on integration of Google’s AI tools, including Gemini, NotebookLM, Google Trends and SynthID, into daily workflows for research, transcription, translation and verification.
- Video and audience growth: practical frameworks for building YouTube channels, using both Shorts and long-form video to reach new audiences.
- Direct reader relationships: strengthening open web presence and newsletters to build first-party audiences the newsroom owns.
- Sustainable revenue: sessions on monetisation strategy, product differentiation and audience growth models.
The Growth Lab grew out of the Global News Gap Project, a continent-wide mapping of independent African news creators conducted with Project Oasis and Code for Africa, which identified where emerging newsrooms most need support.
“Independent news creators and digital-native newsrooms are shaping how Africans, and Nigerians in particular, find and understand the news,” said Marianne Erasmus, News Partnerships Lead, Middle East and Africa at Google.
“The Growth Lab gives these creators what growing newsrooms need most: practical AI skills, a clear video and audience strategy, direct relationships with their readers and a path to sustainable revenue. When emerging voices build capability and financial independence, the whole news ecosystem becomes more resilient, diverse and sustainable.”
“Google’s Emerging News Voices Growth Lab is giving us practical ways to combine audience insight, product thinking and the responsible use of AI as we build a more sustainable future for The Republic’s journalism,” says Wale Lawal, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Republic.
For Nasir Achile Ahmed, Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder MoreBranches, the initiative offered practical resources, new tools and valuable opportunities to connect with experts and fellow journalists.
“The program has been valuable to our newsroom, providing information that validates observations we’d made previously, as well as access to tools and the knowledge to use them effectively. Beyond that, engaging with experts and fellow journalists has created a supportive environment that is helping us strengthen our storytelling.”
The Growth Lab is the latest step in Google’s continued support for Nigerian media. Since 2018, Google has funded newsroom transformation projects through the GNI, helped publishers grow advertising revenue through the Ad Manager Academy, and shared ad revenue with Nigerian publishers through Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager.
Since 2024 alone, Google has trained more than 1,500 Nigerian journalists and editors in online safety, advanced Search, digital verification and audience analytics.
Google also supports media skilling through its collaboration with the MTN Media Innovation Programme, where fellows receive hands-on sessions on AI as a productivity partner and on newsroom technology, from News Consumer Insights to Gemini.
