Masisi reveals the importance of the recent roadshow led by DJ Fresh
The creative sector has full potential to contribute significantly to economic diversification and wealth creation in Botswana.
Currently, it contributes 5.46 percent to the Gross Domestic Product. President Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Masisi said this past weekend at the Department of Broadcasting Roadshow and Boot-Camp held at Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC) that the historic initiative was meant to recognise new talent as well as groom upcoming creatives to ensure that they do better within the creatives space.
"This is a historic event in which we gather to honour and celebrate the best of our emerging talent. This is not coincidental. It is part of our stated purpose by my Government to promote, support, and deliberately invest in the creative industry," he said.
Masisi said the creative industry is a trillion-dollar industry globally, through which many people’s livelihoods are sustained, as the creatives trade the works of their creativity to provide boundless joy in various genre of music and dance, as well as through films.
The initiative started last year in September with a roadshow where talent was scouted from around the country and hosted for a week in a bootcamp in Gaborone. President Masisi also explained why the roadshow project was commissioned.
"This exercise was necessary bearing in mind the devastation caused to the creative sector by the global Covid-19 pandemic," Dr Masisi continued.
One of the participants - a Maun based artiste Pearl Benifield who goes by the stage name Royalle - was grateful for this opportunity as a new artist. She told The Midweek Sun that it is not easy getting recognition as a new artist in Botswana but this platform exposed them and gave them long term motivation on how to thrive in the industry.
"For me, it was very important to be briefed about financial literacy as a musician as early as now, because very often, people associate the music industry with fun only than business. We were also taught about self-identification and branding, which I believe was very critical.
“I have learnt a lot and appreciate the awards we were given, as well as the cash prizes of P10 000 that each one of us walked away with," she said.
She added that the roadshow was an opportunity of a lifetime for all the 30 artistes who were selected and it meant a lot for her to meet the most talented artistes the country has to offer.
The 2021 UNESCO report entitled: ‘Cultural and Creative Industries in the face of Covid-19: An economic Impact Outlook', notes that an estimated overall of US$750 billion contraction of the gross value added by cultural and creative industries has been experienced globally in 2020, which represents a dramatic setback in the capacity of these industries to be drivers of cultural, economic and social outputs for sustainable development.
President Masisi said this is a lesson for all the countries to take the creatives industry seriously. He added that Botswana as a country cannot depend solely on the economies of scale to grow the creative sector, owing to its very small population and market potential.
"We are therefore making concerted effort to drive adherence to and attainment of quality of global standards in order to compete with the best in the world," he said. The initiative’s Project Director, Thato Sikwane better known as DJ Fresh, said the aim of this project was to showcase upcoming talent from across the country.
"The aim of the roadshow was to showcase upcoming talent from all corners of Botswana, and we partnered with Musicians Union and some were recommended by dikgosi from their villages.
“We finally selected 30 participants for the bootcamp that was driven by the president's interest, such that they were also awarded," he said, noting that they look forward to the second edition.