Gov't creates taskforce on gig economy

The government has constituted a task force to guide and develop strategies to grow the economy and job creation contribution to the creative/gig economy.

The task force appointed by Sports, Culture and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has 12 members and will be chaired by Charles Wambia from the State Department for Culture and Heritage.

The task force's primary mandate will be to develop a strategy to revitalize the creative economy and facilitate the execution of recommendations of reports done for the creative sector.

Further, the task force is charged with developing a tool to measure and articulate the cultural, social and economic value of the country’s creative economy.

Additionally, the task force is expected to develop coordination mechanisms which will link creative economy actors with the private sector, government and development partners.

The task force has four months to hand over its final report and recommendations.

According to a 2021 report by the Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) dubbed New Business Models for Financing the Creative Sector Research, there are an estimated 275,375 creative enterprises in Kenya, 44,614 of which are registered formally.

The three largest segments of the creative economy are listed by the report as crafts, music/sound recording and fashion design.

Lack of access to finance is listed as the biggest challenge faced by creative enterprises with the ventures forced to tap informal funding sources and digital loans for growth.

The report intimates that creative enterprises require between Ksh.100,000 and Ksh.1,000,000 in financing, a figure exceeding the maximum amount allowable by most digital lending platforms.

Besides finding a cure to financial challenges faced by creative enterprises, the FSD report recommends solutions to address the sector’s market development and institutional constraints.

The new task force is expected to carry recommendations of reports on the sector including the FSD survey.

While the creative economy has no single definition, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) defines the space as an evolving concept which builds on the interplay between human creativity and ideas, intellectual property, knowledge and technology.