09 Nov 2021

Government has spent P20 million in the remuneration of 12 978 artists in the in 2020/21 to ensure that they survive during COVID -19 period.

The President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi said in his nation address on Monday that the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) had also funded eight projects at a cost of P3.6 million in the creative industry.

The funded projects, the President said, were in film production, events management, music, photography and general entertainment.

He said in 2020, Botswana Fibre Network (BoFiNet) established an Internet TV content aggregation and distribution platform, called UPIC TV, aimed at facilitating broadcasting local television content over the internet.

“This, without a doubt, was a landmark initiative for the country in facilitating the growth and economic benefits of the Creative Industry,” he said.

Since the BoFiNet launch, President Masisi pointed that the initiative had resulted in a total of 90 local titles and close to 4 000 jobs across the Creative Sector.

As a result, the number of local titles was projected to grow with an additional 5 558 jobs, he added.

President Masisi said government implemented the Cross Country Recordings Extravaganza 2021’ programme, which covered both the visual and performing arts.

He explained that artists across the country were remunerated for their performances and products, further elaborating that Phase I of the project was carried out in June/ July 2021 and 1 844) artists benefited from performance fees of close to P5 million .

Dr Masisi highlighted that over P9 million was spent on the service providers.

As for the establishment of the National Arts Council of Botswana (NACB), which he stated was one of the key priorities of government at the last elections, he said he was happy to report that the NACB Act was adopted by the last Parliament in September 2020 and its full operationalization was being put into effect. ENDS