Yolly, the emerging digital content and rewards platform from Starbase Technologies, took centre stage at PodFest Naija 2026, championing Nigeria’s next generation of creators as podcasters, content creators and storytellers.
The event attracted brands and industry stakeholders who gathered at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos for the festival’s second edition, organised by The Muvmnt Studio.
Themed , ‘A Festival of Stories’, the event covered Life, Love, Money, Health, Culture, Brands and Citizen issues, with Yolly emerging as a central figure in conversations defining the future of digital creativity.
The Festival also served as a convergence point for Nigeria’s storytelling ecosystem
across four pillars —celebration, collaboration, innovation, and learning while highlighting tools to help creators build sustainable careers.
Keynote speaker, Lagos State Deputy Governor, His Excellency, Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, focused on creativity, technology, and culture, highlighting the intersection between the creative sector and the city’s economy alongside other prominent voices.
Addressing attendees during a Question & Answer session, Dr. Hamzat averred that, “As Africans, we tell stories as a culture,” describing Lagos as the continent’s data backbone with its $22m Unified Fibre Network project set to deliver widespread economic benefits to the creative industry, aligning perfectly with the objectives of Yolly.
Speaking during a panel session at the event, Yolly’s Head of Business, Emeka Okenwa, highlighted that Yolly’s unique selling point lies in rewarding users for watching, streaming, and creating content, while enabling creators to earn from their very first stream.
In his words “We believe that a lot of Nigerian creators are being shortchanged and the earning capacity of our creators are way below the earnings of their contemporaries outside Nigeria.”
Okenwa stressed that, “We are trying to remove the gate that until you have huge followers you cannot earn value. With Yolly, users can accumulate Stars through meaningful participation across three principal activities: watching, streaming and creating content.
“If you have one user, you can as well have the value of that user. Also, some payment platforms do not support what we do here in Africa. With Yolly, you can get your payment as at when due, no matter the currency involved.”
Demonstrating this commitment, Yolly sponsored Five Hundred Thousand Naira prizes each for First and Second Runners-up, Kelvin Raphael and Samson Tara Igarama in The Next Big Podcaster category.
Reacting to their wins, first runner-up Raphael said, “This is a big moment for me, and I am genuinely grateful to Yolly for supporting this competition and sponsoring the prize. This has given me even more motivation to keep creating and pushing myself.”
Second runner-up Tara added, “I am really excited about winning, but beyond the prize itself, I appreciate Yolly for creating this opportunity where emerging creators like me can be seen and encouraged. Yolly’s support tells me that my work matters, and I hope more organisations and individuals will continue to invest in young creative talents.”
While welcoming attendees, PodFest Naija curator Tosin Adefeko said the festival was created partly to bring together a community that had previously been dispersed across Nigeria’s rapidly expanding online storytelling space
PodFest Naija’s organisers, The Muvmnt Studio said the broader objective was not merely to celebrate popular creators but also to encourage collaboration, develop emerging talent and create pathways through which Nigerian storytellers can build sustainable careers and businesses.
