IDDS 2015 – Page 2 – These Hands

Part 3: How Can Botswana’s Cultural and Creative Industries Drive Economic Development?

Posted on June 12, 2015 by handsin

In Botswana and elsewhere in Africa there is a high potential for the cultural and creative industries or the creative economy to diversify the economy away from factor dependency, especially through grassroots innovations and vocational skills application.

The cultural and creative industries are “those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property” (UK Creative Industries Task Force, 2001)

Landry and Bianchi (1995) mentioned that the industries of the twenty-first century will depend increasingly on the generation of knowledge through creativity and innovation.

Howkins (2001) went on to support this by noting and showing how the creative industries have been seen to become increasingly important to economic well-being, proponents suggesting that “human creativity is the ultimate economic resource”.

David Throsby’s (2001) theory on the model of concentric circles is based on the proposition that the cultural value of cultural goods is the distinguishing characteristic of the creative industries. In this model, creative ideas originate in the core creative arts in the form of sound, text and image, and these ideas and influences diffuse outwards through a series of layers or “concentric circles”, as illustrated in Figure 1. This is the home of the artist – the musician, lyricist, dancer, choreographer, composer, writer, painter, sculptor, scriptwriter or designer (Joffe, 2010).

In a recent report prepared for the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Work Foundation developed a Stylized Typology of the Concentric Circles model of the creative industries as represented in Figure 2. The stylized typology of the creative industries introduces into the diagram the relationship between the Core creative fields, Cultural industries, Creative industries and the Rest of the economy, as well as the notion of expressive value and outputs, which is unlike the original Concentric Circles Model.

Richard Florida (2012) in his creative economy book “The rise of the creative class revisited” notes that the Creative Age can been distinguished by the rise of two great social classes. The first is the Creative Class, workers in science and technology, arts, culture and entertainment, healthcare, law and management, whose occupations are based on mental or creative labor. The second and larger one is the Service Class, whose members prepare and serve food, carry out routine clerical and administrative tasks, provide home and personal health assistance, do janitorial work, and the like. The Service Class has grown alongside the Creative Class, rising from twenty percent of the workforce in the late nineteenth century and thirty percent in the 1950s to almost half of the workforce, 60 million plus workers, today in the USA.

It is conclusive to note that economic profit is significant across all sectors of society as the money is often used beyond the confides of the owner and the investor. It stimulates growth of the firm and communities it operates in, directly and indirectly through the respective micro and macro level benefits of economic profits.

The overall role of the state and its institutions like LEA, Department of Cooperatives, BOCCIM, and CEDA is to ensure that a harmonious environment is created to maximize the above, but in Botswana these and many more initiatives seem to be failing due to a lack of relevantly educated graduates or human resource base.

So for Botswana to reach the ultimate goal and success in this journey a harmonized multi-sectoral approach pegged with an effective human resource development strategy is required and it will indeed further require a lot of government activism to ensure that perfect knowledge is created and this is realized especially given that the economic growth is starting to decline, yet there is lack of perfect knowledge and a need for skilled expertise to drive the economy forward.

The conclusion statement of the Citizen Economic Empowerment Act and Policy of Botswana as approved on the 8th of August, 2012, purports clearly that a more strategic and holistic approach to citizen economic empowerment is critical if the future growth of the economy of Botswana is to be sustained through private sector expansion or growth. Economic growth and development, and empowerment are interdependent and intertwined.

Empowerment is a powerful catalyst for economic growth and development. On the other hand, rapid economic growth and diversification without meaningful citizen participation could ultimately lead to a more fragile and vulnerable economy. The underlying principle or basis, therefore, for citizen economic empowerment in Botswana, which goes hand-in hand with economic growth and development, is to promote social cohesion and harmony, promote a notion of nationhood and pride, maximize potential of human capital residing in Botswana, and reduce both absolute and relative poverty. These are all qualities that lie in the creative industries as key drivers which have been labelled the priority driver of the Botswana economy in 2013 and beyond.

As will be shown in the next blog post by my co-author Merle O’Brien success lies behind valorizing as shown in the figure below or the value based/human centered approach to development which is similar to the IDIN philosophy.

Part 2: Youth, Education, Development – What are the gaps and prospects for the future?

Posted on June 7, 2015 by handsin

In his 2012 state of the nation address the President mentioned with regards to youth empowerment that our nation faces no greater task than that of empowering our youth to achieve their aspirations for a productive and meaningful life. Census findings reveal that some 39% of Botswana are aged between 15 and 35. Yet notwithstanding the fact that this age cohort is better educated than any generation before them, or that many of them also possess additional life skills and talents, such as relatively high levels of ICT literacy, as a group they are struggling. Having come of age in an especially challenging time of economic downturn, our youth deserve the government’s special support. The nation’s present opportunities as well as future prospects are at stake. With their energy and innovative capacity our youth are solid assets, who need to be enabled if we are to be a more prosperous and productive nation.

He further went on to mention that government’s commitment to building a better future by investing in our youth is perhaps best reflected in their devotion of substantial resources to their education, training and overall skills development, both in and outside the classroom; they recognize that our education system must be adapted to meet evolving social and economic demands. Statistics show that participation in tertiary education has been increasing steadily over the years but is still relatively low. About 45% of the relevant school‐leaving age group is entering tertiary education and about 64% of them are going to private institutions.

The levels of unemployment for the educated are high with tertiary level graduates comprising 15% of the unemployed and those with post‐secondary certificates a further 22%. These figures suggest poor quality of post‐school education and/or an inability of the economy to absorb individuals with high levels of education or maybe even lack of intuition, innovation and initiative by the graduates of the education system. This could be caused by other non-economic factors such as a dependency culture which was brewed by government’s active role in assuming the private sector role since 1976.

The need for the adaption of the education system is the principal justification for the development of Botswana’s first comprehensive Human Resource Development Strategy set to be realized by 2029. When it is implemented it will provide a strategic link across each of the vision 2016 pillars, and a vital underpinning to the range of government, societal, sector and institutional reforms that are necessary for Botswana to achieve the status of “winning nation”.

So far through the Human Resource Development Council, several sector committees have been setup to review and develop integrated HRD plans in line with this strategy. As an identified key alternative driver of societal development, economic development and growth, the government has through its Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) placed the creative industries as the number one priority sector to development in line with the Private Sector Development Strategy and Human Resource Development Strategy.

It is argued that a human resource development strategy that recognizes the creative industries as key cross cutting catalysts or a sector for Botswana, will ensure that the policies of government, the desires of civil society, the programs of educational institutions, and the initiatives of business and industry are better aligned and work together in a coordinated way to enhance overall sustainable human resource capabilities and consequent economic growth and development. In the next blog post I will discuss some theories on the cultural and creative industries and how these can contribute to economic development of the country and its people.

Posted 7th June 2015 by Shanthi Purushotham

Part 1: The Value of Cultural and Creative Industries for Botswana and Africa: Taking a Human-centered approach to Development – What can we learn from Botswana?

Posted on May 29, 2015 by handsin

As we prepare to host IDDS D’Kar 2015 in Botswana, it is useful to present a local perspective on what development might mean in an African context and how the value of indigenous knowledge in design might open up new pathways of understanding for our participants.

This is the first post of a 5-part blog series in which I will share some insights into key themes in Botswana around the role of the state, human capital, creativity, wealth creation and historical challenges to development. As Co-founder & CEO of These Hands GSSE and ardent Creative Economy Advocate in Botswana, I will frame 5 pertinent questions for reflection:

Taking a human-centered approach to development: What can we learn from Botswana?
Youth, Education, Development: what are the gaps and prospects for the future?
How can design help Botswana’s cultural and creative industries drive economic development?
Botswana in the context of Africa’s future wealth potential – How can design help Botswana leap-frog to a multi-local society?
Can Africa strike the right balance in the 21^st century? Profit AND People-driven development – can we think either/and?

My contribution is supported by Merle O’Brien (@merleobrien), a South African futurist and participant of IDDS D’kar 2015 based at Creation iLab (www.creationilab.com) where she specializes in creativity, design and innovation through indigenous knowledge. She shares her insights on Africa’s potential to amass more wealth in the next 35 years than in all its history. The biggest opportunity here is for design to influence the global value chain of future African innovations – from concept, the design prototype, sourcing raw materials, embedding creative and quality standards of suppliers, the marketing, logistical distribution, retail experiences and service support to the end user. In this way, economies such as Botswana could leapfrog from an agro-industrial economy to a multi-local society driven by a human-centered design approach to technology innovation. It is against this backdrop that the value of IDDS D’Kar 2015 becomes more significant as we begin to recognize the relevance of our design approach at this point in time, in Africa.

The world’s earliest evidence of design can be found in Southern Africa. The stone artefacts, ochre paint pots, beaded shells and weapons found in Blombos Caves in the Western Cape date 100 000 years back. These archeological findings reflect how the earliest humans conceived ways to survive, communicate, express meaning and evolve new ways of doing, thinking, eating, hunting and playing.

It is a paradox that the continent with the world’s oldest design heritage is currently the poorest, yet set to grow faster than any other in the first half of the 21^st century alongside the value of design. It is also humbling to know that the San communities in Botswana have a deep design heritage locked up beneath the foundations of modern thinking. It is as if, through D’Kar, we might return to source to unearth the old, to help us make better sense of the new. It is therefore appropriate that the summit is themed KURU: a Naro word meaning TO DO or TO CREATE.

Blog 1: Taking a Human-centered approach to Development – What can we learn from Botswana?

Before World War II most world states were largely interested in economic growth as the only measure of economic development. After the World War II, prior and during the decolonization of most African states, there was a looming ideology of communism which was quite opposite to the capitalistic view in that it introduced a social welfare or basic needs approach to the realm of economic development. In the 1990’s most countries were undergoing a choice process of either aligning with absolute profit driven economic growth policies for economic development or go with the other absolute social welfare development principles of economic development.

Post the cold war the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were introduced by the United Nations Development Programme came into play to strike a balance between the two extremes and find synergies. This created space for the interlinked principles of development economics and managerial economics which signal out clearly the role of the state in economic development.

The principles of managerial economics teach us that it exists to ensure that firms and households at micro level are willing and able to produce maximum output which shall ensure maximum profits and maximum satisfaction as the per the demands of the households respectively.

At a macro level the understanding based on the principles of development economics, teach us that it exists to ensure that governments are willing and able to ensure viable industrial growth which will in turn ensure economic growth and maximize social welfare of the households.

The role of economic profit is therefore a very important one, as government depends on profits from firms to ensure economic growth and maximize social welfare. When firms make profits they are willing and able to create employment as they expand, which satisfies the welfare aspect of the government agenda.

These profits of the many firms and that of some that may mushroom from the employment created, result in aggregated tax revenue which satisfies the economic growth agenda as embedded in the principles of development economics. Some of the tax revenue is used to create a harmonious environment to grow the industries and also combat other welfare needs like health care and education (Todaro, M, et al 2006)

The economic profit further satisfies the society’s development through sponsorships and donations that are made by the firms to community based organizations, non-governmental organizations, social enterprises and community trusts as it assists the government agenda of maximizing social welfare and improving wellness.

The role of the State, in an open economy like Botswana, is to ensure sound, informed and sustainable laws and policies in order to ensure a harmonious working environment for industrial growth and job creation which will consequently satisfy the government agenda of having maximum economic growth and social welfare.

The following are some of the elaborate micro and macro level benefits of economic profit that a good state that satisfies its role diligently can ascertain:

Rewards and encourages initiative, hard work and risk-taking.
Encourages innovation, progress, improvements, efficiency, and technological advancement.
Encourages scientific exploration and Research and Development to discover new innovations and advancements.
Encourages new suppliers/businesses to enter the marketplace, thereby creating more competition and diversity of goods and services.
Provides people with a vast array of goods and services that they want and need.
Lowers prices and makes goods and services more affordable.
Creates jobs for citizens and opportunity for immigrants.
Attracts investment by rewarding banks and individuals that invest in companies and entrepreneurs.
Creates new capital (retained earnings) that can be used for economic growth and to provide insurance in times of recession.
Creates wealth and capital for charities, the arts, and good works.

Botswana has since independence experienced great economic growth with the Gross Domestic Product per capita and Purchasing Power Parity (US dollar) in Botswana being last recorded at 4377.56 US dollars and at 14752.70 in 2011 respectively. The GDP per Capita in Botswana is equivalent to 35 percent of the world’s average. However, the social welfare of its people seems not to be matching these positive developments. Based on a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standards of living for countries worldwide, Botswana has a Human Development Index of 0.633 and is ranked 98th in the world signifying medium human development for a country of its economic status.

Economic Development exists when a country compared to other comparable countries in the region (Sub Saharan Africa), has managed to grow the economy away from primary industry dependency to one that will be driven by secondary and tertiary industries.

Botswana is performing poorly in economic development as it is still largely dependent on the primary industries of mining and agriculture as her main contributors to economic growth and has failed to develop the secondary and tertiary industries. Moreover, job creation in the private sector is insufficient and to date the government is still the largest employer. The costs of production for the private companies are still too high and they do not have the necessary markets locally and regionally and thus cannot make the necessary profits to create jobs.

Botswana’s National Development Plan goals which are pegged and closely driven by the pillars of her Vision 2016 are to ensure economic growth, reduce poverty and create employment. We can point out that so far Botswana has managed to succeed on the economic growth goal but has failed on the other two based on the 35% unemployment rate of the youth and the relatively low Human Development Index.

Acknowledging these gaps, the government of Botswana is trying to address them with initiatives like the private sector development strategy in partnership with the voice of business being the Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM), a youth in business High Level Consultative Council (HLCC) Sector committee that meets with the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture twice every quarter to advice on high level red tapes that hinder industrial growth or opportunities for youth owned businesses, the youth development fund, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), a Local Enterprising Authority (LEA), a revived department of cooperatives under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, The Botswana Innovation Hub, Botswana Institute of Technology, Research and Innovation and the National Human Resource Development Strategy which is headed by the Human Resource Development Council to mention a few that have been setup to stimulate this diversification drive.

Through successive development plans since NDP7, the importance of developing Botswana’s human resource capacity has been a first line priority. From a broad range of perspectives such as educational attainment, skills and training, quality of life issues, and the expansion of the labor market, considerable progress has been made. However, a lot still needs to be done to have an educated and informed nation that will actively participate in the economic development of the country. In the next blog post I will present my insights into the themes of youth and education and how they relate to the development of Botswana. I will discuss some of the gaps and strategy’s that the government has initiated to address these, as well as prospects for the future.

Meet the Authors:

Merle is a design futurist at Creation iLab, a start-up transmedia and design innovation lab which serves as a testbed for her doctoral research. She holds a MPhil Future Studies from the University of Stellenbosch Business School, specialising in the future of creativity. She is exploring how the fields of art and science are moving towards a common space and the radical innovation this holds for the confluence of creative lifescience, technology and indigenous knowledge to alter the axis of Africa’s future in sustainable and positive ways.

Thabiso Blak Mashaba (@BlakMashaba), Lead Organiser of IDDS D’Kar 2015