BEPA President, Gilbert Seagile said his orgnisation was already at an advanced stage following discussions with both the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC) and the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA). Seagile also said the idea was to commercialise the creative industry, more especially entertainment promotion side post COVID-19 and create sustainable entrepreneurship. He said entertainment promoters and industry players should be able to access government funding for expansion like other businesses.
“The BEPA strategic plan is dedicated to the recovery of the creative industry. As it is, we are working with LEA and MYSC on the commercialisation of the creative industry, whereby we will see entrepreneurs in the industry have access to CEDA funding. The model is already in place,” said Seagile. According to PP wa Pimp, as Seagile is known in the music industry, they were currently working on a study to establish the current contribution of the creative industry to Botswana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He said they were also looking to come up with a registry for all local promoters. This means all promoters will have to be licensed in order to practise. “We are on a countrywide recruitment drive because our goal is to have all promoters registered and licensed just like other professions such as nurses and lawyers. After this exercise, we want government, parastatals and corporate world to stop organising and handling promotions of their shows but engage our members as a way of empowering industry players. We also have COSBOTS on board as our strategic partner,” he added. Seagile said they also want to form alliances with Gaborone and Francistown City Councils and promote such establishments as entertainment hubs. With over a year now since events or festivals were banned due to COVID-19, Seagile the creative industry is the most hardest hit by the pandemic and as such, need proper, achievable and sustainable recovery plans post COVID-19.
