Lagos, Nigeria – September 28, 2025
Del-York Group marked another milestone in its commitment to Africa’s creative economy as Del-York Creative Academy (DCA) graduated its August-September 2025 cohort on September 28th in Lagos. The graduation showcase represented the successful completion of a six-week intensive program designed to transform creative talent into industry-ready professionals.
For over a decade, Del-York Group has remained committed to a singular vision: to empower Africans to be global leaders of innovation and excellence. This vision is not aspirational rhetoric but operational reality, executed through strategic investments in education, media, and skills development that harness the creativity, skills, and resources of Africa’s people and institutions.
Del-York Creative Academy embodies this mission in practice. By building professional capacity from within the continent, the Academy addresses a fundamental imperative: Africa must develop its own talent infrastructure to compete in the global creative economy. The graduates of the August-September 2025 cohort represent this philosophy in action – Africans equipped to lead, not follow, in the international content marketplace.
Mrs. Uzo Orimalade, Head of Brand and Business Development at Del-York Group, delivered opening remarks on behalf of Mr. Linus Idahosa, Group CEO and Founder of DCA. Her address underscored the Group’s sustained commitment to transforming African talent into global competitive advantage through institutional excellence and industry-aligned education.
The ceremony was anchored by Dauda Kelvin, a graduating student, Mrs. Promise Jones, Project Manager at DCA, and Jubril XII Tijjani (Twelve), who guided attendees through an evening that balanced professional recognition with creative demonstration.
The program’s architecture reflects both academic rigor and market relevance. Del-York Creative Academy’s diploma is accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), ensuring that graduates receive nationally recognized credentials that meet professional standards.
The curriculum spans six specialized disciplines: Acting for Film and TV, Cinematography and Set Lighting, Filmmaking and Directing, Screenwriting for Film and TV, Post Production and Editing, and Producing and the Business of Filmmaking. This comprehensive approach ensures graduates develop both technical competency and strategic understanding of the creative industries.
Instruction is delivered by practicing professionals who bring current industry knowledge directly into the learning environment, ensuring that training remains grounded in operational reality rather than theoretical abstraction.
The graduation showcase functioned as both celebration and proof of concept. Graduates presented a music video and multiple short films that demonstrated technical proficiency and creative maturity across the curriculum’s disciplines. Each project reflected the integration of conceptual vision with operational execution, a balance the Academy prioritizes in its pedagogical approach.
Graduate testimonials confirmed program effectiveness. Participants consistently noted the transformation from foundational interest to professional capability. One graduate characterized the experience as exceeding value expectations while delivering practical industry preparation. Another described progressing from limited filmmaking knowledge to commanding storytelling tools with confidence. These outcomes validate the Academy’s model of intensive, practice-based learning.
Institutional Continuity and Professional Transition
The certificate presentation served as a formal marker of professional transition. Graduates received NBTE-accredited credentials directly from their instructors, symbolizing both the completion of intensive training and the beginning of their integration into Africa’s creative professional networks.
This moment represents more than individual achievement. It embodies Del-York Group’s core mission: empowering Africans to build from within by transforming talent into leadership capacity that can compete on the global stage.
Advancing Africa’s Position in the Global Creative Economy
Del-York Group’s investment in creative education is strategic, not philanthropic. Africa’s creative industries represent significant economic potential, but this potential can only be realized through structured human capital development. The continent’s demographic advantage becomes a competitive advantage only when accompanied by world-class skills development infrastructure.
Del-York Creative Academy addresses this opportunity by producing professionals who meet international standards while remaining rooted in African storytelling traditions and cultural authenticity. This approach aligns with Del-York Group’s vision of empowering Africans to be global leaders – not by mimicking external models, but by building excellence from within.
This graduating cohort joins an expanding network of DCA alumni who are actively reshaping the creative economy across the continent. Their success contributes to Del-York Group’s larger objective: positioning Africa not as a consumer of global content, but as a competitive producer whose creative output commands international attention and economic value.
The September 28th graduation reaffirmed what Del-York Group has demonstrated consistently over two decades: sustainable transformation requires long-term commitment to building from within, harnessing the creativity and skills of Africa’s people, and transforming them into global leaders of innovation and excellence.
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