By: Hee-Dee Walenga
The Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture will channel N$1.6 million to eight entrepreneurs in the creative industry.
The Ministry along with the Basecamp Business Incubator held a ceremony on Monday morning to officially announce the recipients of the N$1.6 million Creative Futures Grant.
The Creative Futures Programme is an initiative implemented by the Basecamp Business Incubator and supported by the National Arts Council of Namibia to support entrepreneurs in the creative industry with the tools and support needed to scale their businesses.
A total of 8 Namibian entrepreneurs in the creative industry will receive a N$200,000 grant in tranches from the Directorate of Arts in the Ministry.
These entrepreneurs will also receive continued guidance and mentorship from the Basecamp Business Incubator.
The recipients of the grant are: Jerry Lusiku – founder of Genuine Media Minds, Heimo Hafeni – founder of Artsolut Trading, Christ Shameulu – founder of the Swakopmund Fashion Week, Linda Tuvadimineyipo – founder of Tuva K-O Fitness and Dance Studio, Ndeshihafela Ndivayele – founder of House of Noir Renozance, Vernna Muronga – founder of Rex Animation & Film Studio, and Loide Namukwambi – founder of Loide Bead & Designs, and Jean-Claude Tjitamunisa – founder of Ekori Studios.
Programmes and Business Development Manager at Basecamp Business Incubator, Tuyamba Akwaake, provided some details on how the aforementioned eight entrepreneurs were selected.
Over 200 aspiring creative entrepreneurs went through a three month-long programme that included an idea validation programme designed to support emerging creatives, students, and early stage entrepreneurs across numerous cultural and creative industries by helping them test the desirability, feasibility, and viability of their ideas.
Basecamp Business Incubator provided the entrepreneurs with practical templates and guided expert facilitation, emphasis on developing a fungible business plan, financial management, and investment readiness.
The entrepreneurs also learned about bookkeeping, cash flow management, preparing financial projections, and growth models.
Towards the end of the incubation programme, 28 of the top creative businesses pitched in front of a panel of judges composed of representatives from the Director of Arts, National Arts Council, Basecamp Business Incubator, and leaders across the creative industries. The aforementioned eight entrepreneurs were then selected for the grant.
“The creative sector is often under looked in terms of business, usually because the creative entrepreneur doesn’t have the business knowledge to monetize their creativity. This is why it’s important for the National Arts Council to empower creatives and to re-found a creative industry,” Akwaake stated.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture, Dino Ballotti, urged the entrepreneurs to use the funds to create jobs for fellow Namibians. “Start with the end goal of saying, ‘How can I create employment for others?’,” Ballotti remarked.
Ballotti also spoke on value addition. “That garment, that dress, if it’s packaged beautifully, if it’s marketed well, all of a sudden you can ask for a higher price. The price point becomes different because of value addition,” Ballotti told the grant recipients.
Ballotti also stressed that the public funds given to the entrepreneurs are an investment, not a donation.
Christ Shameulu, founder of the Swakopmund Fashion Week, told The Villager, “I am happy to be one of the recipients. I will put the funds to good use. It’s all going back into the business. We will create jobs,” Shameulu joyfully expressed.
Heimo Hafeni, founder of Artsolut Trading, shared with The Villager that he plans to use the funds to set up an event catalogue, which he hopes will lead to his business becoming an information and opportunity sharing center.
Namibia’s creative industry is notoriously underfunded and uncommercialised. The Creative Futures Programme marks a change in how the Nation views the industry.
