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Mkhululi Ncube, Zimpapers Reporter
LOCAL content creators have been challenged to take advantage of a US$10 million fund set aside for the creative industry to produce content that speaks to the development the country is undergoing, a Cabinet minister has said.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere said this yesterday during an interaction with content creators at a Bulawayo hotel.
Last week, the Government revealed that it had set aside US$10 million for local content creation as part of a major drive to expand television and radio services under the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, in line with the transition to heritage-based broadcasting.
The funding, which forms part of ZBC’s 2026 budget, is expected to anchor the rollout of new television and radio channels, while stimulating growth in the country’s creative industry. Speaking to the creatives, Dr Muswere said they must tap into the funding by producing content for the public broadcaster.
“We did both policy, entrepreneurial and development strategies in order to grow the public broadcaster.
So, now, the money is there that we have generated. For last year alone, more than US$50 million was generated from both marketing and advertising as well as licence fees. Now is the opportunity for you to be able to participate.
“We do not want everyone to participate in English; we want everyone to participate in any of the recognised national languages. We want to see a drama in Vhenda, Ndau, Kalanga, and we also want to be able to have cartoons in Tshangani and IsiNdebele, that is who we are,” he said.
Dr Muswere said the content must cover all age groups to enable information that is age-specific.
He said finance will be made available to support those who come up with content covering national languages and tell the true Zimbabwean story.
“Broadcasting as an ecosystem is very key as it is the catalyst that is going to drive macro-economic growth in all sectors of the economy. As we journey towards an upper-middle-income society, the public broadcaster`s mandate is to inform, educate and also entertain the nation and the globe about what is taking place in Zimbabwe based on facts and ethics.
“This workshop should be able to become the yardstick that is going to set up the framework in order for the public broadcaster to be able to finalise both the technical and content production in order to set up ZBCTV 2. But for us to be able to achieve the second station, we need the content, and the content has to come from all of you as Zimbabweans,” he said.
The minister said it was everyone’s responsibility to contribute towards content that speaks to the country`s heritage, news and current affairs, promote tourism and domestic and direct investment as well as achievement in the Second Republic.
“The remarkable achievements include the Lake Gwayi-Shangani water and dam construction, that include power generation, irrigation and the importance of tourism within the framework of Lake Gwayi-Shangani. All these success stories require patriotic independent producers that are able to tell the true story about our economy,” he said.
Dr Muswere said the development is happening not only in Matabeleland but across the country, which presents a good platform for content creators to tell stories. He said that to achieve an upper-middle-income status, the country needs knowledgeable people, such as content creators.
After the interaction with the minister, ZBC officials presented on a number of topics on how creatives can work with ZBC. —@themkhust
Online Reporter