Gov’t keen on supporting content creators to grow digital economy, PS Tanui says 

The Ministry of Information, Communications and The Digital Economy is committed to supporting creators to monetize their content in a concerted effort to grow the Digital Economy.

ICT and Digital Economy, Principal Secretary John Tanui said the government has prioritized the Digital Super Highway and Creatives Economy as a key enabler in growing and transforming all the other sectors of the government agenda.

Tanui noted that the government is achieving this through laying of fibre optic cables countrywide, setting up of digital hubs, formulation of ICT policies and the establishment of WIFI hotspots in public places.

The PS who was joined by Mercy Ndegwa, Meta Public Policy Director, East and Horn of Africa noted that the Ministry has been engaging the private sector like META, Google and other online digital platform providers in ensuring monetization of content for digital creators.

He further noted that the government has set up the Open University of Kenya(OUK), the Digital Media City and the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kenya-AIST) at the Konza smart city which will be a game changer for the creators.

The PS spoke when he met over 35 digital creators at the Ministry headquarters aimed at addressing some of the monetization challenges they face and devising ways of collaboration to grow the sector.

During the meeting, it was noted that some of the challenges the content creators were facing comprise; high taxation, account hacking, pseudo accounts, social media account de-activation and demonetization.

Ndegwa who was accompanied by Sarah Muyonga, Meta Public Policy Manager East and Horn of Africa noted that Meta was collaborating with the Communications Authority to address some of the challenges the content creators are facing.

Ndegwa further called on the digital creators to adhere to the stipulated Meta Social Media policies and Community guidelines so that they can fully benefit from monetization where she promised to partner with the Ministry to organize trainings for the content creators.

On August 6, 2024, Meta rolled out two new monetization features; Instream Ads on Facebook and Facebook Ads on reels which will enable content creators to earn money for crafting original videos and cultivating a community.