The Ministry of Youth Affairs, Arts and Sports on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the ministry and Trace East Africa, which will see the music platform, market Kenya’s creative content to a global audience.
The objective of this MOU is to establish a framework for cooperation between the parties in the field of youth development to provide platforms that equip the youth with the requisite skills and knowledge in the creative industry, enabling them to become competitive in the job market.
Speaking about the new agreement, Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba said, he had put pen to paper for the first time ever in the history of Kenya to sign an MOU for the promotion of production, and marketing of creatives.
“I thank Trace East Africa for the journey that has culminated in this partnership, which is hugely beneficial to our artists,” he said.
The CS also said that the model had been vetted by the Office of the Attorney General and the Kenya Copyright Board to ensure its authenticity.
“I want to assure our creatives that under Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), you will enjoy a new dawn in this industry. This MOU offers our creatives a number of opportunities, including utilizing the robust Trace platform to promote their content globally,” he said.
He called on Kenyan musicians and content creators to take advantage of the new agreement to market themselves to a bigger audience adding, “As they say, what is not seen or heard never happened. This agreement provides you with a platform to show the world your talents.”
The Trace East Africa MD Danny Mucira said that the MOU was a proper agreement with actionable items that will result in youth empowerment.
“Trace is an empowerment platform where we work mostly with the youth to empower and help them realise their ability to participate in the mainstream economy, and this MOU sets the ground to be able to do that through music,” said Mucira.
The agreement will start with the first cohorts of 15 top talents who will benefit from scholarship in form of training, progressing them through the recording conveyor belt and unleashing them to the world, once ready, through the Trace platforms.
He also reiterated that Trace would provide necessary liaison, allocate staff time, create awareness, coordinate cross-ministry efforts, provide skill absorption opportunities, and provide necessary training through its Trace Academia free online application to ensure the goal of this MOU is achieved.
