Africa-Press – Botswana. The Department of Broadcasting Services nationwide roadshow was necessary to cushion the creative industry from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.
Speaking at the award ceremony for the roadshow’s 30 finalists in Gaborone on Saturday, he pointed out that the industry was hardest hit by the pandemic.
Aimed at celebrating RB2’s 30th anniversary, Dr Masisi said government saw it fit to leverage the roadshow to unearth talent in music production and the performing arts as a way of capacitating the sector which had the potential to produce value chain income streams.
He said the roadshow demonstrated support, particularly in terms of injecting confidence in all the participants.
“Government is alive to the fact that the industry continues to sustain many people’s livelihoods as the creatives trade the works of their creativity to provide boundless joy to souls in various genre of music and dance, as well as through films,” the President said.
Dr Masisi said government continued to allocate significant resources towards the sector’s capacitation as evidenced by the establishment of the National Arts Council. The President revealed that the council was now actively discharging its mandate.
Government, he said, continued to work tirelessly to create a conducive regulatory and policy environment for the industry to flourish.
Dr Masisi said in addition to solidifying synergies within the industry to ensure that creatives were efficiently served and realised value out of their creative assets, a broader platform for developing local content had been established in the broadcasting sector.
Another initiative was investment in ICT infrastructure that supported the creative industry which he said more youngsters would inevitably take advantage of as government had started issuing tablets to senior secondary learners.
The President said government was also in the process of forming partnerships with global players to catalyse the sector’s growth.
“Botswana cannot depend solely on the economies of scale to grow the creative sector, owing to its very small population and market potential. Concerted efforts are being made to drive adherence to and attainment of quality of global standards in order to compete with the best in the world,” he said.
President Masisi advised the creatives to explore and invest in networking and collaborating with others rather than thinking only solo acts were the pathways to success.
Meanwhile, the President has expressed concern about the increasing reports of substance abuse in the industry.
“As creatives, the temptations that come with fame may be too strong to resist. Remember that as you grow in this industry, you become role models. You also become influencers. Therefore, I urge you to resist engaging in such vices as drug and substance abuse. If you stay away from such vices, I can guarantee that your chances of success will be enhanced,” he said.
For his part, Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said the roadshow, undertaken in partnership with Big Dawg Productions, covered more than 50 towns and villages around Botswana and facilitated 13 workshops which benefitted more than 900 participants.
He encouraged the creatives to work hard to harness the conducive environment that government was availing for their craft.
“Please take advantage of the fact that you have a President who is passionate about your industry, supportive and deeply desires to see you succeed. Produce and create more to earn royalties as well as boosted earnings from performances,” he said.
Minister Morwaeng said government was determined to empower local artistes by ensuring that they benefitted from royalties.
He said Botswana Television’s sports and entertainment channel presented massive opportunities for both content creation and procurement.
“To this end, government has further allocated P140 million to facilitate the creatives through content procurement and associated expenditure for the year 2023/2024,” said Mr Morwaeng.
Another speaker, Minister of Youth, Sport, Gender and Culture, Mr Tumiso Rakgare said government saw it fit to inject life back into the creative industry post COVID-19 because it was the hardest hit.
He said the roadshow was also a government initiative to unearth, document and showcase grassroots creatives on national television thereby stimulating growth of the ailing sector.
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