• Covid-19 has badly hit the most productive age group of society - the youth.
• The biggest chunk of the work is already done and the skill and intellect is within us. All we need to do is exploit it.
Over the past couple of months, the economy has not been doing well. Even before Covid-19 struck, there were cases of mass layoffs and businesses winding up.
This turn of events has badly hit the most productive age group of society - the youth. However, we still have the greatest gifts anyone could have, those of life, time and talent.
Livelihoods can be earned by exploiting a combination of our talents and modern technologies to create excellence in creative entrepreneurship. More than ever, we need to look inwards as individuals, communities and country and ask ourselves where our God-given abilities rest.
They could be in music, photography, painting, performing arts, crafts, jewellery, social media management, fashion, design and many other forms of creativity. Creative entrepreneurship is especially preferred and applicable at this time because of its low entry barrier.
The biggest chunk of the work is already done and the skill and intellect are within us. All we need to do is exploit it. That hobby you have should be innovatively turned into a foundation of a solid business plan complete with a feasible business model.
For those privileged to regulate business activities, there are two key factors that must be addressed to ensure support for the creative industry. First is a strong and working intellectual property legal framework. This is the lifeline for a vibrant knowledge-based economy. Second is an industry-customised tax regime. We need more tax clinics specifically for creatives so that both the taxpayers and the taxman have a common understanding.
South Eastern Kenya University