Growth & Jobs | Creative industries driving growth in Jamaica

THE RECENT Creative Career Expo produced and hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (MCGES) at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, targeted senior high-school and tertiary-level students who have an interest in pursuing studies, or operating businesses, in the creative industries, as well as creative practitioners and entrepreneurs.

Many people and panellists spoke, and there was a conversation between dancehall icon Sean Paul and host Terri-Karelle Reid. Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange was one of the speakers, and she said the creative industries was the fastest growing sector in the world, and that the United Nations has estimated that the global creative industries generate in excess of US$2 trillion in annual revenues, and account for millions of jobs.

Here in Jamaica, in 2022, the creative sector generated $2.2 billion in revenue and accounted for five point two per cent of the gross domestic product and three per cent of direct and indirect employment.

“The creative economies are alive and kicking. So, we must not only punch, but stamp our mark way above our weight class … There is no doubt about the economic power of the local entertainment, cultural and creative industries (ECCI),” the minister said.

She went back to the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when the country was under lockdown and observing preventative protocols, and the debates over whether the entertainment sector should or should not be closed were raging. Those debated inspired the temporary re-opening of the sector from June to August.

Grange was now disclosing that the Planning Institute of Jamaica figures for the second quarter of that financial year indicated that the Jamaican economy grew by an estimated $17 billion in the quarter prior, and the only thing that accounts for the sharp increase was the temporary opening of the entertainment sector.

Thus, she is of the view that “the creative economy has the potential to exponentially grow the economy and create jobs that are the alternatives to the traditional sectors”. And, as such, the ECCI will be “well measured, valued, and integrated throughout the Jamaican economy”. She ended her presentation by telling the numerous students in attendance to dream big as the world is their stage.

A similar exhortation came from Marisa Benain, national director of the MCGES’ Jamaica Creative Unit, which was directly responsible for the production of the event. “Students, use today as a start to believing that your talent can make a difference, that it can change the world,” Benain said, among other things, directly to the students, whom she encouraged to believe in their dreams.

Earlier in her presentation Benain said, ”The future of Jamaica’s creative and cultural industries is a bright one … We are here to infuse life into that future … In putting this expo together, the ministry has put its stamp on the future of Jamaica’s creative success.”