10.30 -1.25p.m

2.    Ayeta Wangusa, Executive Director, CDEA: Tanzania Film and Music: Analysis of Industry- Specific Framework Conditions Relevant for Growth and Investment.

3.    George Garacha, MD, Heva Fund: The Financial Landscape for the Creative Industries in East Africa: What is the way forward?

ON:AFDB Feasibility study for the development of the fashionomics platform:

Presenting a study done by African development bank.

MAIN POINTS:

·         Top ten apparel exporting countries in Africa are sub-Saharan Africa and recent successes.

Ø  All top 10 exporting countries are located in Eastern and Southern Africa

Ø  They represent only 0.55% of world apparel exports

·         Job opportunities in the apparel industry

Ø  There are about 170 government factories  in Mauritius

Ø  Textile, apparel and accessories employment represents 66% of all the manufacturing jobs from the countries i in Mauritius

·         Clear differences among African countries regarding their apparel export potential:

Ø  Eastern African countries are better positioned to compete globally as apparel producers.

Ø  Garment sector identified as one of the four most promising manufacturing sub-sectors for Sub-Saharan Africa  (SSA).

Ø  With AGOA as stimulus, SSA clothing exports increased to US$ 3.2 billion in 2004.

·         Fashionomics prototype website and potential uses.

·         Can have relevant contacts in the sector: from government and manufacturing industries.

·         There will have access to market

·         There will be access to financial resources to get all information to financing and funds.

·         To develop the skills of the personnel or hiring special talents, with a focus in women onto businesses, employment for youth and micro development.

·         Interesting potential platform uses according to those interviewed in current prototype.

·         7% of those interviewed said export is the most important thing, 13% said quality, 33% said financing same as communication and 40% said training, 47% said selling.

Prototype website Address: fashionomicsafrica.org

Presenter 2. Ayeta Wangusa: Executive Director CDEA

ON: Tanzania Film and Music: Analysis of Industry- Specific Framework Conditions Relevant for Growth and Investment.

MAIN POINTS:

·         The study was done as part of  the research led by Kenneth Kasulwa  as supported by DANIDA titled “Research in Culture and Creative Industries focusing on the Film and Music sub-sectors contribution to creative economy in Tanzania and EAC Common Market”

·         The key objective of the study was to carry out an analysis of the framework contribution for the film and music industries in Tanzania.

Findings

·         No guarantee system financial system for the creative industries

·         Creative mass of content producers are at the precursor and embryonic stages of industrial development

·         There is a market for film and music in Tanzania, controlled by telcoms and broadcasters

·         Limited knowledge development (research) for the creative economy

·         There is a weak copyright management framework

·         No policy measures to support creative startups and stimulate innovation

·         Mobility funds are limited, save for the British Council mobility fund

·         Very few support organizations providing support to creatives

·         There are clusters of creatives both music and film, which need both technical and organization development

·         The policy recommendations

·         Precursor Stage

·         Guarantee systems and other financial engineering mechanisms

·         Critical mass of content creators and physical retailers

·         Presence of music and film screening, recording, distribution platforms

·         Measures supporting creativity through education

·         Clearly defined copyright system that assigns an equivalent of property rights to new creative products

·         Neighboring rights that protect performers, recording producers and broadcasting organizations Policy measures supporting creative start-up

·         Companies

·         Policy Measures Supporting Creative Start-Ups in  film and music companies

·         Presence of Physical and Social Creative Environment

·         Embryonic Stage

·         Availability of Seed and Venture Capital for Film and Music Companies

·         Critical mass of creative and entrepreneurial people in the Tanzania

·         Nurture Stage

·         Measures Supporting Creativity Through Education

·         Policy Measures Promoting the Mobility Of Artists

·         Conclusion.

·         A There is need for the development partners, the government of Tanzania and private sector to work together to transform the film and music industries.

·         The government needs to provide the enabling environment for  impact investment to invest in the film and music industries.

·         There is need for a systemic approach to address all framework conditions, if Tanzania is to enhance the growth and investment of the film and music industries.

·         Need for national research to capture creative economy research and to trend it over the years

·         This calls for the government to trigger a process that will mobilize resources to build capacity of film and music enterprises,  through business incubators and accelerators, mobilize direct investments, offering providing regulatory reforms and establish guarantee funding systems from development banks to commercial banks for the creative industries

·

Presenter 3. George Garacha: Managing Director Heva Fund

ON: The Financial Landscape for the Creative Industries in East Africa: What is the way forward? AFDB Feasibility study for the development of the fashionomics platform.

MAIN POINTS:

Issues that inspired this research

·         The need to develop clarity on the statistics of the contribution of the creative sectors to our countries’ GDP to understand the footprint of the creative sector.

·         Heva’s journey on the issue since 2012 as part of the NEST Collective in Nairobi, Kenya.

·         Challenges faced by the artists of the Nest Collective led to formation of Heva Fund in 2013

·         Initial studies conducted by the Heva Fund with the help of Viktoria Ventures in 2012-2013 involved talking to 50 different enterprises asking industry level questions, asking firm level questions and asking entrepreneurs specific questions in East Africa

·         Issues arising from that research in 2012-2013

·         Perception issues: poor quality products, too expensive, internationals are better than local

·         Value chain integration issues

·         Associated sourcing issues

·         Operating environment issues

·         Kill gaps : most entrepreneurs are self-taught

·         Copyright issues

·         Competitive issues

·         Specific firm level questions from the entrepreneurs and their business

·         Selling issues

·         Working capital issues

Entry points and strategy based on research findings and facts findings studies done by Heva from 2013 to 2015 are:

·         Need of training of creative entrepreneurs

·         Need for business development and financing  of the sector

There were emerging trends in the creative economy sector

·         All our creative industries are entrepreneur driven with maximum of at least five people working for them and most of them not on permanent bases. Their capitalization is less than thirty thousand US Dollars

·         Landscape of about 2500 businesses are operating as early stage businesses post revenue

·         Little knowledge on keeping our businesses the way the market requires

·         Market has very little understanding of the creative sector value chain hence risk on calculation of debt product in the market

·         A lot of us are still informal: haven’t registered our businesses, we don’t find returns

Heva’s approach towards these challenges which also serve as opportunities

·         Injecting capital into businesses that are viable and start working with them towards investor readiness.

·         Heva evaluates to determine the potential of a business for investment through a creative panel created in 2015:

Ø  Creative attributes of one’s proposition: Looking at things like adaptability of creative product, how people receive design product etc.

Critical areas for investment and innovation for Heva fund

·         Business aesthetics of the entrepreneur – first area for innovation

·         Suitable finance (Financial innovation: Financial modeling and instruments)

·         Security and collateral

·         The creative process

·         Value chain investment development

·         Areas where the fund has invested.

·         Fashion value chain – invested in production of factories, retail and brands

·         Heva has identified a collective of about five fashion designers that they are looking to sign contracts in 2017 and already starting to move them into the Kenyan market and have them produce in Addis Ababa.

·         Areas for future investment.

·         Expecting to start investing strategically in an East African Fashion retail network in 2018-2020 where Heva has key retail assets in every of these cities around:

·         Addis Ababa

·         Kigali

·         Dar es Salaam

·         Nairobi and

·         Kampala

Considering strategic investment in the value chain and how those creative entrepreneurs become more sustainable and within the East African Market, Heva Fund is Interested to invest in content development from 2018 going forward.

·         Music Performance and entertainment. Going forward they are having an expanding consumer market looking for unique experiences in the area.

Needs and challenges from the studies Heva has made:

·         Unique creative product

·         Creating value from opportunities we have

·         Very young population in the region

·         Low barriers of entry as we are a cultural space and a lot of our technique is still cultural.

KEY ACTION POINTS:

·         Create a curriculum for the financial sector to start to have a skill of thinking about creative product because it is a specialized product for transforming how a business looks at the creative sector.

·         Potential for market. So far we have only a thousand to two thousand of the market between the two to three million annually.

How can We Help develop the sector?

·         Government helping foster the local buyers and entrepreneurs to establish and promote local institutions and to defend the intellectual property of the fashion industry and its manufacturers.

·         Textile apparel and suppliers should improve productivity, diversify productivity, should establish long term partnership with buyers, access new market and collaborate to supply the market data.

·         The large number of groups should promote ethical fashion and sustainability pilot and test sourcing from African countries and ensure the social environmental standards.

·         Through increase of transparency to provide market information needed by the sector

·         Ensuring financing and that entrepreneurs and SMEs will have link and connection to network and have all this information in one portal.

·         Fostering developing skills and provide training tools.

·         Putting the suppliers and buyers in touch  to generate more business

·         Promoting ethical fashion and sourcing

·         Opening a free platform to reach critical mass and have an impact.

(What is the East African Opportunity for investment as far as Heva is concerned?)

·         Fashion Retail especially on the sourcing and production

·         Music Performance and Entertainment

QN 1.By John Bosco Kanyagoga from Kigali: Member of Advisory Board of CDEA.

Qn to Ayeta Wangusa:

a)    Focusing on Tanzania, is it possible to conduct a second study at regional level to cover entire East Africa Region?

Answer: Yes CDEA has the mandate in terms of vision to cover the East Africa, but the challenge is only on financial aspect.

QN2. By Elizabeth Mbabazi,Uganda: serves at CDEA Advisory Board

Qn to George Garacha:

How do you deal with the creatives? How do you get involved with them?

Answers: –  Heva has an interest in working through partnerships and do not need to have a physical presence of the partner because of their strong online presence that allow them to have direct relation with its people. One of partners they already have is in Bayimba, Uganda.

–       Through involving the creative and their networks through conversations, like they are already having a conversation with Rwanda.

–       Also through subsidizing cost of product.

QN 3. By Ms Santa Anzo: Managing Director at Arapapa Fashion House, Chair for AGOA Association of Uganda

Question from statement of Rep. of Minister of Trade and Industry

On Issue of mitumba, should the East African Presidents indeed ban second hand import especially of clothing into the region, as they are pushing for the US to withdraw support to the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA). Can we compete? How can we make for the loss of one point four billion U.S dollars should America withdraw from AGOA?

Answer: We are going to come up with a resolution, one of them being a research conducted in all East African countries so as to come up with the solution and also partner with MP of East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), so as to be presented it in the parliament. On the AGOA issue, the government is also working on it. It is however too early to expose what has been agreed upon but I assure you that the government is aware and is really working on it to make sure we have a win-win situation for both sides (between our government and the US)and that our citizen who will be on that market do not seriously get affected by the trade challenge.

Additional answer from Hon. Dr. James Ndahiro, EALA, Rwanda–Mitumba is a recent import after the structural adjustment program but before then whole of East Africa was able to dress itself and there was even a uniform attire for all students around East Africa. Hence what our head of state has done is important and we must support him because whether we have AGOA or not we must continue moving forward to survive.

Qn 4. Dr. Mapana: Director of Creative Arts University of Dar es salaam

Question to Ayeta Wangusa:

a)    I’m interested to know the sample size you used for your research also who were the participants in this research and can we get more details on Dodoma, Arusha and Dar es Salaam to see how powerful the findings are.

Answer: We chose Dodoma, Arusha and Dar es Salaam and there were 70 people interviewed who were creative entrepreneurs.

b)    Why did you decide to use aWestern framework in connection to the context of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and so forth?

Answer: When we were looking for a tool to do this analysis we said, ‘what’s happening out there in the creative sector’, because we don’t have our own theoretical framework, so we found a tool that has been used for their creative economy; the EU’s system and applied it to the African context.

Qn 5. Whitney Ginaji: Fashion Designer from Uganda:

Question about Mitumba to all the Ministers and East African Legislative:

Are we ready and can we really afford for the mitumba to go while the perspective of so many is affordability, and access? Are we leaving behind the consideration of on the situation of free trade and free entry of new clothes that are cheaper for so many people?

Answer: The free trade is there, it is a relationship we cannot escape, but we also have to build our industries. The East African States have decided to industrialize and this is not a joke. Importing and selling mitumba is killing our creativity. So despite that the relationship with mitumba importation is still ongoing, we need to do more effort to create our own goods and hence create more jobs from our own manufacturing. We should strengthen our industries so as to become chief exporters to other countries outside East Africa as well as outside Africa.

SPEECH KEY NOTES:

·         Contribution of the Creative Economy GDP in GDP in East Africa so far.

·         The government’s recent realization on the issues hindering the advancement and development of the creative sector and their gladness in arriving on the same page with us.

·         The government’s awareness of the struggle the creatives and creative sector has been facing and what is needed to be done to overcome it.

·         The promise of inclusion of our conference’s conclusions in the policy the Government and Ministry are working on, so as to conclude on the way forward from the strategies that will be suggested in our discussions.

·         The Ministry’s support of us and on this agenda, ready to work on them and include our issues on the budget that they are recently working on and will be more improved on.

·         The Minister’s emphasis on textile and fashion industry in terms of its potential and many opportunities.

·         The government’s readiness in promoting and taking forward the resolutions achieved from our discussions.

SPEECH CONCLUSION – The Honorable Minister through his representative urges we form valuable, productive and long lasting relationships so they may help us grow, thrive and make an impact.

–       George Garacha: Managing Director Heva Fund

“We Africans need to change our perspective on our African made content, creations and products, to love, appreciate and buy them.”

–       Whitney Gnaji: Fashion Designer Gnaji Fashion House, Uganda.

“Textile and fashion industry has huge potential and huge opportunity in East Africa”

–       Hon. Charles John Mwijage: Tanzania Minister of Trade and Industry.

“Let us form lasting friendships and working relationships and partnerships so as we can be more powerful and make greater impact as well as cement on our East African Union.”

–       Hon. Charles John Mwijage: Tanzania Minister of Trade and Industry.

We have accepted to go out there with things, products that do not meet regional standards and by relying on bribery to agents and authorities. This has become harmful, things that have not been tested, proved, or haven’t gone to laboratory are the ones we bring to the market. It is a virus, so we should try to focus on how to overcome it instead of who is to blame.

Free trade idea is not a bad thing it is only up to our negotiators ensuring that, if not getting a good deal then at least we settle to a win-win situation.

On second hand clothing / Mitumba: We will fail if we try to pursue this issue strongly in the way we are doing. It is an issue that has both positive and negative sides. It can be helpful in terms of affordability as you say but can also be dangerous in our development pursuit. Let us pursue interest that we are able to protect, and can contribute to regional integration.

The role of public-private sector in this matter – we say it is an engine of development, but when engine is run without oil it will break. I do not want us to break but to engage with public sector and be part of the service. We should be one with government pursuing same goal, only just with different tools.

Nancy Bondo: Manyatta: House of Accessories comments on regards to mitumba: The reason why mitumba have become dominant I believe is because of death of our industries. That is how the outside got an opportunity to import, but then it begins with us to really work forward providing a better and reliable service for our people if we so decide to ban them.

Remark from Whitney Ginaji: Fashion Designer from Uganda on African products: We must know the mindset of our customers; what they are used to, what they want, what they rather go for and start working on changing it and that change must first begin with all of us creatives with supporting each other’s works by purchasing our African made products. This will help remove the bias of African works and African made products and even bring them the prestige they deserve.

A request from Ms. Santa Anzo to the Hon. Dr. James Ndahiro and the leaders of the East African Community – The creatives and players be involved right hand from the beginning as the actions are taken on matters of the creative industry and the processes of finding solutions to banning of second hand clothing so as to have that positive support and results.

Ms. Santa Anzo adding a note on George Garacha’s presentation on critical areas for innovation.

Nobody has paid attention to fashion sector (which has the biggest value chain) in terms of the business behind the glitz and glamour of fashion models, and so it is an area we really need to focus on with Heva fund and probably approach the public-private partnership like the Danish Ambassador advised.

Robert Mwampembwa’s warning to Ayeta, Madaraka and the rest:

We are living in a transition period, as we know Tanzania is now writing a policy for the arts and so many of the dynamics that are affecting the creative industry are also changing from within and outside East Africa. So In these two days as we deliberate along with researches and data provided we must remember that these things will not remain as they are, the figures will change, therefore we must know what these dynamics are and where are they carrying us, looking at them as a way of deliberating our conclusions today.

George Garacha’s adds to Robert Mwapembwa’s warning: Speaking from Heva, the dynamics for us to consider aren’t just political there are also financial dynamics like capital, social dynamics like migration, environmental dynamics like mobility, industry construction, and even technological dynamics like entire lifecycle of product, communication and so on.

Abdi RashidJibril: Director of Roots International (Kenya) remark on Investing in our Culture:

There is an element on investment and return in terms of our stories in our culture. Do we have institutions that just value our stories for the sake of preservation and not for the sake of having return of this creative sector? What we sing about, how we talk etc. we can’t lose sight on that. We need to invest just for our own stories and for our children and our future. We should ask ourselves, can we do to preserve this history that is quickly fading away and has been found that is expensive to keep.

Stephen Gugu: Co-founder Viktoria Venture,Kenya comment on Investment: We must support both entrepreneurs and their creative spaces. If we want to have more local investors we need to look at creative space.