30 Jul 2020

COVID-19 preventive protocols has had distressing effect on many economic sectors and the entertainment and creative industry in the country has not been spared.

With the effects of the pandemic taking its toll on the artists, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) revised guidelines with the inclusivity of the creative industry.

In an interview, chairperson of Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU), Phemolo Lesokwane commended CEDA for the revised guidelines saying it was a good initiative to empower the creative industry and improve the economic status of Botswana.

“Artists deserve to be trained on financial literacy through workshops, hence government and CEDA will have to partner with BOMU to educates and train artists in terms of branding and finance management,” he added

Lesokwane pleaded with artists to collaborate and come up with companies that would perform overall duties within the creative industry.

For his part, director of Tsoga Africa, Gabriel Modise, who is also television presenter and actor, applauded CEDA for the revised guidelines as a path for Botswana creative sector to grow and contribute to the country’s economy.

He said government needed to create an enabling environment to ensure prosperity of the creative industry.

“Worldwide the creative industry serves as the biggest booster to economic status as they were working as companies, and they have to move away from informal sector to formal sector,” he said.

Further, television drama producer, Sammuel Ngwenya also commended revised guidelines as a true path to economic diversification.

He said the guidelines were long overdue to promote creative industry to become another economic contributor adding that the guidelines gives artist chance to prove their ability. ENDS