On the 28^th of November 2024, The Kenya Private Sector Alliance, through the Twende Digital Project, took part in the Creative Sector Learning Dissemination event on the best practices in the creative sector in Kenya organized by the strategic partner of the project, Challenge Fund For Youth Employment (CFYE), also present was the other Twende Digital project implementing partner, Twiva. The event sought to bring together key players in Kenya's creative sector to share insights and identify strategies for youth employment, addressing challenges and opportunities.

Beatrice Gichohi – CFYE, Country Lead, gave the opening remarks while KEPSA was represented in a panel discussion by Dr. Ehud Gachugu, Ag. Deputy CEO and Global Director of Youth & Jobs, Twiva was represented by Joy Mwangi; Chief Operations Officer, Other notable industry players present include; Peter Bwire; founder of Kitale Film Week, Philip Karanja; CEO of PHIL-IT productions, Nkatha Mutungi from the KCB Foundation, Doug Mutai; comedian and founder of stand-up Collective, Marion Ngayi; senior program manager PAWA254 and Fidelis Muia from the Kenya Bankers Association.

In her opening remarks, Beatrice Gichohi – CFYE, Country Lead Kenya, highlighted that the event is crucial in establishing the policies, learning agenda, and gaps that exist in the creative sector. These discoveries will inform the way forward, especially for the youth in the creative sector. She also talked about the impact CFYE has had in creating jobs across the board, “In Kenya, we have crossed the 27,000 mark in relation to our target of 55,000 in creating jobs,”

Dr. Ehud Gachugu, Ag. Deputy CEO and Global Director of Youth & Jobs at KEPSA described the creative economy as an economic driver that can create jobs and skills, “The Creative economy feeds into the needs of business and so as an organization representing businesses, we see the opportunity to do business with the creative sector by amplifying and also maximizing the potential of the sector and leveraging that for commercial gain” He also talked about key projects KEPSA is involved in that align with the creative economy, “90 percent of the creative economy is in the informal sector, therefore we are operating in a highly informal ecosystem. As an organization, we are working to reduce the level of informality. Through story mashinani that has been running under the Ajira digital project, we give the opportunity to creatives outside of Nairobi, also under the Twende digital program we enable young people outside Nairobi to be able to support enterprises within their areas”

Joy Mwangi, Co-Founder and COO of Twiva talked about the untapped potential that exists in the creative sector, “we have young people run programs that empower young people not to just get the skill but rather to monetize it, this is to ensure that young people stop looking for jobs and start creating jobs with the skills they have and See talent not just as a craft but as a business”

Also, during the event Research findings were presented focusing on Gender mainstreaming and inclusive practices within the creative sector, Systemic barriers, Job Decency and commercialization, and Technological advancements and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Some key issues highlighted from the report across the various themes include;

• Gender mainstreaming and inclusive practices within the creative sector; Access to tailored opportunities and spaces and Limited awareness of the unique needs and potential of marginalized groups were highlighted as key issues.
• Job Decency and commercialization; issues identified ranged from Linkages between creatives and mentors, lack of incentives for mentors, and ensuring development programs are demand-driven.
• Technological advancements and Artificial Intelligence (AI); Those interviewed cited Access to and affordability of emerging technologies and limited awareness of capabilities and uses of AI as some of the challenges for the creatives.

Systemic barriers; The report identified 4 key barriers, namely, finance (limited historical data to inform financing decisions, weak IP(intellectual property)  leverage mechanisms and misunderstanding  of creative business), infrastructure( affordability of data costs, bridging the divide between rural and urban development, access to digital equipment), policy(coordination between various government ministries, lack of county and sub-sector specific creative policies, lack of meaningful public participation in policy-making) and Skills Development (fragmented skills development efforts, soft skills gaps, misalignment between skills development and industry requirements