Creative Industry Needs to Be Measured

Namibia’s Creative Industry has long existed on the sidelines of national economic planning.

It remains under-represented in official statistics and policy frameworks despite its vibrancy and visible economic impact. Luckily, we’re seeing signs that this may finally be changing.

The conversation has moved beyond the arts pages and into parliament, with opposition lawmakers taking the lead. In June 2024, Utaara Mootu raised a motion calling for the government to unlock youth entrepreneurship through investment in the creative economy.

Ina Hengari proposed greater prioritisation of local content on Namibian airwaves. Others echoed the employment and commercial potential of the sector during the 2024/25 appropriation bill debates.

These interventions helped thrust a long-ignored industry into the national spotlight.

The minister of information and communication technology has unveiled the intention to make reforms that would give Namibian creatives the ability to tap into the world market and access to payment systems.

Building on this momentum, new voices like that of Fenny Tutjavi have doubled down on the urgency. In parliament, she stated it is time to treat the creative sector as a real economic sector as important as mining, tourism and agriculture. That’s not sentiment. That’s fact – just waiting to be measured.

Namibia’s creative economy is already a living, breathing organism. It comes alive at every Oviritje concert that sells out across the country.

It pulses through every kwaito beat from a Windhoek taxi. It echoes in the drums of Omagongo festivals and tourist reception events. It fills lounges and festivals when performers like Kachasi, Kalux, Skrypt, Adora, Lize Ehlers or Big Ben step on stage.

It fills theatres with laughter when comedians like Mark Kariahuua or Neville Basson turn reality into satire.

It anchors conferences through seasoned MCs like Jossy Nghipandua or Ricardo Goagoseb. It even scripts and scores the adverts that push local products via the work of copywriters, designers, and art directors.

This is not just entertainment. It’s an ecosystem.

When Big Ben, for example, stages a concert, he employs a full band – each musician a working professional supporting a household.

They need transport, food, rehearsal space, and gear. A sound and lighting company is contracted – often a business with 10 to 20 staff members.
Venues are booked. Security firms, paramedics, and cleaners are hired.

Beverages and food vendors benefit, feeding profits back into local manufacturing. Tailors design stagewear. Promoters and graphic designers handle marketing. Ticketing platforms earn a share. One concert triggers dozens of transactions – and feeds just as many families.

And that’s just one event. Now multiply this across weekly gigs, regional tours, weddings, brand activations, theatre shows, cultural festivals, ad campaigns, digital content shoots, and suddenly you’re looking at a multimillion-dollar industry.

Namibian corporations already understand this. Artists like KP Illest and Top Cheri have collaborated with major brands in telecoms, banking, and retail. Comedians regularly host product launches.

Musicians write songs and jingles for banks. That’s cultural influence at scale. No other sector offers this level of reach across age, language, income, or geography.
And yet . . . we have no data on the industry.

We don’t know how many jobs it creates. We don’t know its gross domestic product contribution. We don’t know its export potential, its licensing value, or its intellectual property assets. Without data, we cannot legislate, invest, or grow.

Namibia must commission a national study of the creative industry.

It must track how money flows, how businesses operate, how many people earn directly or indirectly from the sector, and where the structural bottlenecks are.

Only then can we make evidence-based decisions, unlock funding, reform laws, and integrate the arts into Vision 2030 and national development strategies.

Let the numbers speak.
Namibia’s creative industry is not just a feel-good story. It is a job-creating, culture-shaping, economy-driving engine.
We just haven’t measured it yet.
Ben Kandukira

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