Creative industry asks for funding increase

The creative industry Wednesday met Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe where they among others, asked for an increase in funding alloca­tion.

Film Association of Malawi (Fama) President Ezaius Mkan­dawire, who is also a board member for Copyright Society of Malawi (Cosoma) and Cosoma’s Senior Licensing Officer Rosario Kamanga confirmed the meeting.

Mkandawire said they en­gaged the minister during the budget consultation in Lilongwe.

“It was a successful meeting and we spoke to the minister at length and directly. There are a lot of issues which we brought to his attention but the most impor­tant issue was all about the In­tegrated Arts Development Pro­gramme where we are seeking an increase in funding,” he said.

Mkandawire said the minis­ter responded positively to their request and that he has since as­sured them that he will increase the allocation.

“What impressed us most is that the minister has been follow­ing the arts and for instance we shared with him the success story of Joyce Mhango Chavula’s Li­longwe movie which he (Gond­we) has requested for a copy and he has shown commitment,” said the Fama President.

The Integrated Arts Develop­ment Programme came into the limelight last year following the creation of a concept paper by the creative industry following their interface with Gondwe.

After the meeting with Gondwe, where the arts sector requested for more investment, the finance minister requested the creative industry to come up with a concept paper which they submitted to him outlining their different programmes.

The creative industry asked for K2 billion for three years with K525 million as a maximum allocation but this hit a snag as the government only allocated K150 million for the project in the 2015/16 budget.

“We receive subvention ev­ery month but it’s not enough we want more money. We actu­ally gave the minister the report and a lot of artists are benefiting with some buying equipment. So we are hoping for the best with what the minister has said for us to embark on marketing and distribution programmes,” said Mkandawire.

The creative industry request­ed for over K500 million maxi­mum allocation because they were targeting K100 million to go towards capitalisation of Arts Sacco, another K100 million to go towards production and mar­keting cooperative while K300 million was to be used for the initial cost for starting to build a school for the arts and K25 million for the consultation and drafting of legislation establish­ing National Arts and Heritage Council.

Kamanga said the Integrated Arts Development Programme will help brighten the creative industry which has been moving in the dark.

“There is a lot that needs to be done but with this project, things are moving in the right direc­tion. I have been in the creative industry for so many years and with this project so many things will change. We want the artists to benefit from the industry as for now there is little and again through this project we want to create markets for the artists to be selling their products as at the moment the marketing and dis­tribution system collapsed,” he said.

Tom Sangala

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