20 Feb 2023

Government has identified the creative sector as key towards a realistic and sustainable job creation avenue. In a statement presented in Parliament on Friday, Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said government had since completed feasibility study on the creative industry that recommended ways to plug some gaps in the creative sector. 

“Government has so far demonstrated that the creative industry as a driver of growth is truly a sleeping giant. We have undoubtedly made significant steps to awaken this giant and positive impact has already been recorded,” Mr Morwaeng said. 

He said with collaborative efforts, involving government, independent organisations and the private sector, the creative sector was a high yielding and low hanging fruit. 

Minister Morwaeng said government was committed to empower the creative sector, hence the switch from analogue to digital terrestrial Botswana in October  last year. 

“This means that Batswana could receive better quality signal, opportunity to introduce more television channels and also means more content requirement which translates into job opportunity created,” the minister said. 

Also, he said the recently introduced three channels on the Botswana Television spectrum represented significant and solid television broadcasting platform. 

“We view this development as a significant job creation move as we expect more jobs to be unlocked directly and indirectly nationwide,” he said Furthermore, Minister Morwaeng noted that already, the department had employed more than 150 freelancers since April last to augment the various operational areas such as make-up, camera, lighting, sound and on-air presentation, among others. 

He added that the establishment of the new television channels would also create opportunities for the creatives to showcase their works and productions as the department was expected to acquire more content from local independent producers. 

The minister further indicated that a huge disparity was identified in relation to low royalties received by the local creative industry. 

“To remedy this, government took a deliberate step to see to it that 80 per cent of local content is played on all Department of Broadcasting Services platforms, a policy which would ensure retention of royalty revenue within the country and directly benefit the creatives,” he said. He noted that the broadcasting department was on track to increase its production capacity through the ongoing construction of an auditorium. 

“This auditorium will be capable of producing audience-based content for both the local and international market. Other facilities such as the amphitheatre, outside broadcasting facilities and other production areas will be improved to aid the local industry to produce more good quality content,” he said. 

Additionally, Minister Morwaeng highlighted that DBS would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Multi-Choice Botswana to collaborate in capacity building, particularly on content evaluation, programme packaging, on-line platforms and accessibility. ends