Kenyan govt inks deal with Trace East Africa to support creatives

The deal, negotiated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Arts and Sports, is positioned to establish a cooperative framework between the parties to provide platforms that equip young people with the skills and knowledge to pursue careers in the creative industry.

The agreement will see an initial group of 15 creatives benefit from training while their works will be promoted on Trace’s platforms.

Speaking during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 19 April, cabinet secretary for Youth Affairs, Arts and Sports Ababu Namwamba said this was the first time that such an agreement has been reached.

“Today, we put pen to paper for the first time in the history of Kenya to sign an MOU for promotion and marketing of creative products,” Namwamba said. “I thank Trace East Africa for the journey that has culminated in this partnership, which is hugely beneficial to our artists.”

Namwamba said the MoU had been vetted by the Office of the Attorney General and the Kenya Copyright Board to ensure its authenticity and called on Kenyan musicians and content creators to take advantage of the partnership to promote their work.

“I want to assure our creatives that under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda initiative, you will enjoy a new dawn in this industry. This MoU offers our creatives a number of opportunities, including utilising the robust Trace platform to promote their content globally.”

Trace East Africa managing director Danny Mucira said the MoU contained actionable items that would result in the empowerment of young people.

“Trace is an empowerment platform where we work mostly with the youth to help them realise their ability to participate in the mainstream economy, and this MoU lays the groundwork to do that through music,” Mucira said.

He added that Trace would create awareness, coordinate cross-ministry efforts, work on skill-absorption opportunities and provide the necessary training through Trace Academia to ensure that the MoU’s goals are achieved.