Uganda’s Culture and Creative Industries in a Digital Age

The creative economy, also called the “orange economy” or “culture and creative industries” (CCIs), involves knowledge-based economic activities and the interplay between human creativity and ideas, knowledge, and technology, cultural values or artistic and cultural heritage, and other individual or collective creative expressions. These activities include visual art, music, performance, film, radio, television, publishing, advertisement, design, fashion, and digital content. The Uganda government recognizes CCIs as a sector with the potential to create employment and income-generating opportunities for Ugandans, especially young people. Given this potential, understanding how young people can succeed in CCIs is vital.

This scoping study aims to understand this question: How do workers and sellers in CCIs develop the skills required to thrive in a digital age? It includes the context of CCIs in Uganda, the experiences of and challenges faced by digital creatives, intellectual copyright and related issues, political, social, and economic perceptions of CCIs, and relevant laws and government regulation.

Following this review, Caribou rearchers conducted interviews with creatives and experts across Uganda. The findings can be found in three related reports.</p<

• “Skills for a Digital Age for Uganda’s Young Creatives” shares findings from primary research with young creatives and other actors in the culture and creative industries.
• “Skilling Uganda’s Creatives for a Digital Age: Recommendations” offers recommendations for skilling of Uganda’s young creatives.
• The research is summarized in the report “Skilling Uganda’s Young Creatives for a Digital Age: A Way Forward.”