22 Aug 2023

Creative arts in Selebi Phikwe have been implored to take advantage of the National Arts Council fund to help diversify the town’s economy.

Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Beauty Manake, said this during a Creative Boot Camp in Selebi Phikwe recently.

“It is important for us to capacitate and empower our people to get these funds,” said Ms Manake.

She said the creative industry should access grants offered by the government to expand their portfolios, adding that there was a lot of potential in the creative sector.

She called on the creative industry players should expand their portfolios by registering companies. 

Companies and Intellectual Property Authority representative,  Ms Matshidiso Mpayang, urged the creative industry players to access the organisation’s Online Business Registration System to open their own companies.

She explained that Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act through Section 35G imposed a levy on all imported and locally produced technical devices that were capable of reproducing copyright protected works.

Collected by Botswana Unified Revenue Services, she said the fund order provided that the levy shall be used to promote the development of the authors, publishers of works and the copyright industry.

Ms Mpayang further explained that the fund offered a maximum grant of P1 million with a maximum project period of 36 months, hence urging the creative arts in Selebi Phikwe to also apply for this fund, particularly projects aimed at developing the copyright-based industries such as literature, music, theatre, film, media, photography, software, visual arts and poetry.

She said citizens with a minimum of 18 years or businesses and companies registered under Companies Act with 100 per cent citizen ownership were eligible to apply for the fund.

The creative industry was also urged to apply for Youth Development Fund (YDF) to source funding to expand their portfolios.

The YDF, which is currently open for applications, is eligible to citizens aged between 18 and 35.

The deadline for submission is September 8. ENDS