Africa’s answer to the Sidemen? Endow wants creator teams, not solo stars

Africa’s creator economy is entering its Sidemen era – and Bobai Balat, founder of creator-finance startup Endow, is putting capital behind it.

Balat, the chief executive of Endow – a digital bank built for content creators – says the next phase of growth won’t be led by solo influencers chasing followers, but by collaborative teams.

“We believe collaboration is the future of the creator economy, especially in Africa,” Balat told The Daily Influence. “Teams really are what build and change the world.”

The Sidemen – a UK-based collective of YouTubers turned business empire – and their US counterparts AMP have become blueprints for how creator groups can scale content into global brands.

Balat is putting this strategy into action via the Endow Creative Fund (ECF), a financing programme that backs groups of two or more Nigeria-based creators rather than individuals. With 12 million naira up for grabs, it seeks to empower creative teams to bring projects to life with real capital.

Applications for the first round run from 1–15 November, followed by shortlisting, external judging, and a live virtual pitch to select the winners. The fund, Balat says, is both a marketing play and a statement of intent about where the industry is heading.

Endow itself was born out of the financial blind spots Balat saw while running his influencer agency, TIMA. After years coordinating brand deals and cross-border payments for creators across Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, one pattern kept repeating: creators were earning more, but managing less.

“What’s the most important part of your business? Your money,” Balat said. He added that Endow solves the problem of tracking money across Instagram deals, AdSense, Airbnb side hustles, and freelance gigs.

Endow’s core product is a smart wallet designed for multi-platform earners. It offers USD and local-currency accounts, virtual cards, and the ability to connect income from platforms like YouTube, Shopify, Fiverr, and Upwork. The app also lets creators sell digital products, tickets, and courses directly – an effort to help them “own their communities” instead of relying on social platforms’ shifting algorithms.

“I don’t follow anyone on TikTok, but I’m still on TikTok for hours in the day because the For You page literally feeds me content that’s based on an algorithm,” Balat said. “We want creators to build audiences they can actually reach and monetise.”

While creator infrastructure in Africa is still maturing, Balat said foreign brands and startups, particularly Asian tech companies and fintechs focused on diaspora remittances, are fuelling most of the spend.

“You see a lot of these fast-growing apps: gaming, payments, travel, using creators to expand into Africa,” he said. “That’s where the budgets are coming from.”

Nigeria remains the creative epicentre, with Kenya and South Africa close behind and Ghana emerging fast. 

Endow’s network spans some of the continent’s best-known names, from travel creator Tayo Aina to comedian Mr Macaroni.

Beyond the fund, Endow is seeking to build a broader financial stack for creators: credit products based on platform-performance data, insurance and retirement-style plans, and tax support – an emerging pain point as governments tighten rules around digital income.

For Balat, creators are a test case for how work itself is changing.

“Creators are at the forefront of the future of work,” he said. “Our job is to help them run real businesses.”

The Sidemen and AMP have shown what creator collectives can achieve in the UK and US. With Endow’s backing, Africa’s version of that story is just beginning.