Govt should create policies to back creative industry’s growth-Rex Omar

Veteran Highlife musician, Rex Omar has called on stakeholders, including the government, to create policies that foster a supportive environment for the creative industry.

In an interview with Graphic Showbiz, he emphasised the importance of a robust policy framework that would enable creatives to thrive domestically and internationally.

“As a matter of urgency, we need to get a policy framework that and projects that will harness our talents. According to Statistics, almost 60 percent of our population is youth. And if you do a research, you realise that most of our youth are in the creative industry. 

“In a country that we have a lot of unemployment, it is very important that we intentionally create opportunities for these teeming youth be it in the music, filmmaking, content creation, fashion, broadcasting, design, publishing, advertising spaces. 

“If we deliberately invest in these sectors, it will solve a lot of problems in relation to job creation. It must start from policy. In 2023, the creative economy grossed over $198 billion and it is almost 10 percent of the global GDP. 

“If we intentionally support them from a policy level, it will trickle down for everybody, the entrepreneurs and whatever, to get involved. And then we can make some benefit, get some benefit out of it and contribute to the national development,” he told Graphic Showbiz.