- The Cape Media Talent Academy targets university students and beneficiaries will acquire professional hands-on training and employment opportunities.
- According to an agreement between MKU and Cape Media Limited, the university will provide the academy with creative content developed by the students.
Image: JOHN KAMAU
The local film, music, drama and arts sector has received a major boost following the opening of a talent academy by Mount Kenya University.
The Cape Media Talent Academy targets university students and beneficiaries will acquire professional hands-on training and employment opportunities.
According to an agreement between MKU and Cape Media Limited, the university will provide the academy with creative content developed by the students. This will allow the talented students to be engaged by the academy in various ways, hence leading to job creation.
Speaking during the launch at the university’s main campus in Thika, MKU Vice Chancellor Prof Deogratius Jaganyi told students to take advantage of the innovative undertaking by the two institutions.
“Moreover, the student artistes who are going to participate in content creation will get certificates which will give them a competitive edge in the job market,” the VC said.
Kenya Film Classification Board Acting CEO Pascal Opiyo, hailed Cape Media Limited and MKU for initiating the academy which seeks to harness, nurture, showcase and monetise the talents of young Kenyans through training.
“I applaud this initiative which is imperative in addressing the mismatch of skills which has been a hindrance for young people pursuing careers in the creative economy,” he said.
He said according to statistics published by Unesco last year, the creative economy has created more than 30 million jobs for workers aged between 18 and 25 more than any other field of employment across the world.
In a speech read on his behalf by Nelly Muluka, the board’s corporate communications manager, Opiyo said Cape Media has been in the forefront in supporting the creative industry by broadcasting locally produced audio-visual content and providing a platform for Kenyans to share their unique and authentic stories and experiences on its various platforms.
At the same time, Jaganyi said data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics as well as from other organisations in the country and beyond, point towards a huge number of unemployed youths in Kenya, Africa and in many developing countries.
“This illustrates the huge number of persons seeking employment in Kenya and across all African countries. It is a scenario that calls for an innovative strategy in job creation within Africa and other developing countries across the globe. In a world where creative arts industry is a popular engagement and given the increasing interests across the world of persons who turn to the entertainment industry for leisure, then, Cape Media Talents Academy becomes a very important intervention in youths skills development and job creation,” he said.
MKU Pro-Chancellor Dr Vincent Gaitho said the government’s commitment to promote creative economy was demonstrated in the 2023’s establishment of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports, which has two state departments including the State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy and the State Department of Sports.
Present at the launch was Cape Media’s managing director Mwenda Njoka, representatives of government agencies and the private sector.