Nandi, the new NFT marketplace for African digital art, is coming soon.
The African Digital Art Network, a global collective of Black digital artists, has launched a new platform to let Black artists and creators across the African diaspora promote their work and get compensated for it.
The platform was launched by the Network at the AfricaNXT conference in Lagos, Nigeria, earlier this month. Chinedu Enekwe, who is also a co-founder of the African Digital Art Network, co-founded the Nandi NFT Marketplace.
According to Enekwe, the Nandi Marketplace was inspired by a conversation he had with Jepchumba, a co-founder of the African Digital Art Network. Jepchumba was at first apprehensive of getting involved with NFTs, according to Enekwe, because no one had contacted her with a genuine community focus.
Enekwe, a graduate of Howard University School of Law who has a bachelor’s in engineering from Maryland, said: “I explained my idea, to launch an NFT marketplace and create an ecosystem, build an ecosystem that would include a studio for creators that has the ability to fundraise. But more than anything, it’s a way to help brands and creators to get paid.”
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are digital tokens that reside on a blockchain and serve as proof of ownership of a digital file. Osinachi and other African artists have developed new ways to succeed in this medium. Osinachi created art using Microsoft Word. At Christie’s London, an Osinachi collection titled “Different Shades of Water” sold for more than $200,000.
The African Digital Art Network is also unveiling the Nandi Cowry community, which Enekwe describes as a global network of cultural leaders, tastemakers, and creators, in conjunction with the introduction of the NFT marketplace.
The community will be represented with a collection of 10,000 NFTs designed by Johannesburg-based artist Sindiso “R!OT” Nyoni and minted on the Celo proof-of-stake blockchain. The NFTs, according to Enekwe, will have three degrees of membership: Tribe, Chief, and Founding. The Celo stablecoin ( CUSD), will be used to price each tier, with prices ranging from $25 to $10,000.
Enekwe argues that his decision to use the Celo blockchain stems from a desire to be carbon negative or neutral. The Nandi NFT marketplace will support Ethereum once it switches to proof-of-stake.