BEPA believe research is the key for entertainment industry
Botswana Entertainment Promoters Association (BEPA) President, Gilbert ‘PP’ Seagile, has called for a research-driven entertainment industry to facilitate the development, promotion and preservation of Botswana’s Creative Sector.
According to Seagile, research is the missing link which will better place the country’s creative sector to compete on an international level.
Speaking at the launch of the second edition of Vee Mampeezy’s Last Man Standing Show, Seagile highlighted that adequate research can better position creatives to get recognition and support from various stakeholders including government. He further pointed out that research can illuminate some of the creative industry’s challenges and suggest ways to address them.
He revealed that BEPA’s concern is to determine how much the nightlife industry contributes to the 5.43% which accounts for the creative sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP.
According to him, BEPA is intentional about pushing for a research-driven entertainment industry, and will commence the research project on 4th November.
“In consideration of its magnitude and impact, we have identified Vee Mampeezy’s Last Man Standing Show to be our case study,” he said. While Vee Mampeezy will be sharing the stage with some of the continent’s biggest musicians in celebration of his 20 years in the game, Seagile and Co. will be hard at work gathering data for a SWOT analysis which is supposed to be representative of the country’s night life industry.
Through this research project, Seagile hopes to prove his theory which suggests that the nightlife industry is the backbone of the creative sector, contributing close to 90% to the said 5.43%.
The Creative Industry is also looking towards the National Arts Council of Botswana (NACB) to conduct research on various aspects of the creative sector as was promised when the Council was launched.