Ideas are the new gold!
One cannot deny the truth in this statement as the evidence lies in the number of creative companies that have turned their gaze to Africa seeking to excavate new and fresh narratives from the mines of African minds.
From Netflix to Disney and Dark Horse, entertainment giants from abroad have called upon African creatives to bring projects such as Mama K’s 4 Team, 10-part anthology Kizazi Moto:Generation Fire and pan-African company, YouNeekStudio’s comics to a wider audience.
Indeed, ideas are the new gold, especially for the African creative. However how does the young African creative unlock the value of their creativity and ideas?
This is exactly what the British Council Creative Economy E-Learning Programme is aimed at, empowering African creative enterprises to unlock value and contribute meaningfully to the creative as well as the broader economy.
About The British Council Creative Economy E-Learning Programme
The Creative Economy E-Learning Programme was the first workshop held under the Scripts and Bars project.The workshop was aimed at enhancing the digital content creation capacity and enterprise skills of 75 creatives and arts organisations in Zimbabwe to strengthen their livelihoods, support job creation and increasing their access to networks.
Scripts and Bars is a digital content creation programme that brings together 100 creatives from Zimbabwe and UK to deliver collaborative artwork across the Music and Literature sectors. It is being delivered by Kay Media Africa and UK-based Reprezent (UK) supported by British Council in partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
What Went Down
The British Council Creative Economy E-Learning Programme workshop was held on Thursday, 3 February 2022 at Cresta Lodge, Harare and on Saturday, 5 February 2022 at Bulawayo Gallery, Bulawayo.
The programme was facilitated in Harare by industry experts and Directors of Kay Media Africa and Comexposed, Keith Kuhudzai and Eugene Mapondera. Whilst the programme hosted in Bulawayo was facilitated by creative strategist and founder of Khura Agency, Thembi Terry.
It featured five courses with a wide range of tutorials designed to help entrepreneurs level up on their creative enterprises and accelerate them on their business journeys.
The programme drew together 75 aspiring and early-stage Zimbabwean creatives in the Music and Literature sectors from fields as broad as music, poetry, broadcasting, animation, and digital art.
The programme was interactive, giving the inquisitive creatives the opportunity to ask questions about points of concern or misunderstanding. A good thing too, as one creative was able to learn that yes, personal funds and company funds must be separated and how to utilise them accordingly.
Participants were also drawn to think more deeply about what they desired to accomplish with their art on a global and social scale. Case Studies featuring youthful, innovative, and successful entrepreneurs were shown to inspire and encourage the artists to think bigger and dared them to believe in their dreams.
It is evident that the British Council Creative Economy E-Learning Programme was successful in equipping these African creatives withthearsenal of business and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills needed to boost their creative enterprises.
From the numerous responses from the dynamic group, the programme had come, for many of them, at an opportune time.
Participant and musician, Cingi emphasised that “A lot of creatives don’t know how to grow businesses.” And that the programme equipped them with the knowledge and skills needed to do just that.
Meanwhile, digital artist and animator, Gerry joyfully expressed, the programme helped“Bridg[e] the gap between the magic of the creative industry and the business side.”
Not only will these young creatives be prepared to change the world with their creativity but when more companies come looking for their golden ideas, as one participant boldly declared, “They’ll find us waiting.”
About Comexposed
Comexposed is the organisation behind the Zimbabwean Digital Arts, Technology and Innovation Convention, Converge.
Comexposed is the collective effort of digital artists and creators in Zimbabwe showcasing their work, progress, and dreams and aims to bring together Zimbabwean digital creators under one banner to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing and growth in skills. To this end, Comexposed has built a community of digital creators breaking the boundaries in Zimbabwe, Africa and the World.
About the British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. British Council build’s connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.
About Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is the agency for international cooperation of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
The SDC is responsible for the overall coordination with other federal authorities of development and cooperation with Eastern Europe as well as for humanitarian aid delivered by the Swiss Confederation.
About Khura Agency
Khura Agency is an A2B AGENCY – ARTIST TO BUSINESS agency helping artists do business creatively & efficiently.Khura provides the final connection with their audience, the smarter approach in the creative hustle.
About Reprezent
Broadcasting since 2011, and now from 3 shipping containers in Brixton, Reprezent Radio prides itself on its forward-thinking underground music. Reprezent’ s DJ’s and presenters all work in the music industry; produce their own music, run their own labels and club nights- meaning the station’s sound is always on the cutting edge of music- across every single genre imaginable.
About Page Poetry Alive
Page Poetry Alive is a poetry collective that nurtures storytellers from page poets to Spoken Word artists with a focus on Youth Development and explorative work.