03 Feb 2019

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Ronald Shamukuni has urged local performing artistes to collaborate more with their international counterparts who can expose their products to the global market.

Speaking at the Yarona FM Music Awards (YAMAs) on February 2, Shamukuni said the demand for different genres in the global was overwhelming, therefore it was upon artistes to rewrite the music story of Botswana as a nation capable of exporting its culture through music.

He further noted that government would continue to support upcoming artistes in order for them to tap into the global market.

Shamukuni indicated that the music industry was a multi-billion industry, which had the potential to create thousands of jobs for the people.

He therefore, urged artistes to be innovative and strike deals with online music distribution giants to capitalise on their networks.

Shamukuni said artistes should treat the performing arts as business and desist from roaming the streets selling their music in compact discs and from the car boots. 

He said government continued to demonstrate an unwavering support towards the development and copyright protection of the arts.

He indicated that in the last two financial years of 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 government spent over P39 millions of which over P12 million was reserved for the music awards, festivals and fashion shows amongst others.

Shamukuni noted that government had also allocated P10 million to the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development to share with other ministries in payment of artistes’ services at different events as well as to purchase art works.

He applauded Yarona FM for their contribution to the development of music industry in Botswana, saying opportunities presented by the YAMAs werecountless.

By linking global trendsetters to local artistes, Shamukuni said the YAMAs were creating vital collaborations for local talent to thrive in other markets.

He further indicated that Botswana had experienced remarkable growth in media development since deregulating the airwaves in 1997.

To that end, Shamukuni said platforms such as the YAMAs should be used to celebrate success from a broader perspective. ENDS