The Creative Economy Support Bill, 2024
Status Timeline
Proposed
Active now
Public Review
Pending
Debate
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Executive
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Final
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Establishment of the Creative Industry Guild
Establishes a voluntary membership-based Guild governed by an Advisory Board representing film, music, fashion, gaming, literary, visual arts, and dance sub-sectors. The Guild will prescribe standards, enforce a code of conduct, and maintain a registered "roll of creatives" (Clause 17) who alone are eligible for benefits and incentives under the Act.
Creation of the Creatives Fund for Young Artists
Establishes the Creatives Fund (Clause 20) funded by Parliament, donations, and grants. The Board will issue grants to registered creatives. Under Clause 21, eligible applicants must be 35 years old or younger and must not have benefited from any other national or county government financial support scheme.
Fiscal Incentives and Credit Guarantees
Directs the Cabinet Secretary for Trade, in consultation with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, to put in place fiscal and tax incentives for registered creatives. It also allows the establishment of a credit guarantee scheme (Clause 22) to provide accessible financial support, credit guarantees for creatives, and guarantees for investors.
Intellectual Property and Legal Support
Mandates the Guild to facilitate creative artists with the application for registration, grant, revocation, and institution of legal actions for infringement of intellectual property rights, both domestically and internationally (Clause 24).
Bill No.
Senate Bills No. 30
Gazette No.
Supplement No. 107
Sponsor
Eddy Gicheru Oketch
Background
The creative economy leverages human creativity, innovation, and ideas as a means of economic development. While the sector contributes significantly to Kenya's gross domestic product and job creation, practitioners have historically lacked structured state support. The Creative Economy Support Bill, 2024 introduces a formal regulatory framework, a representative statutory body, and target financial mechanisms to champion and protect the rights and welfare of creatives across various sub-sectors.
Key Amendments
While the bill is primarily a new principal Act, it places direct structural mandates on existing administrative and education frameworks:
- Curriculum Integration: Directs the Cabinet Secretary responsible for education to ensure that the national curriculum developed under section 4(d) of the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development Act (No. 4 of 2013) includes subjects relating to the creative industry (Clause 5).
- Intergovernmental Coordination: Instructs both the National and county governments to formulate policies, invest in physical and virtual infrastructure, review trade barriers, and facilitate market access for creatives (Clause 3).
New Obligations
- Registration and Roll of Creatives: Creative practitioners must formally apply to the Guild to be entered into the "roll of creatives". Under Clause 17(2), no person can access fiscal incentives, grants, or benefits under the Act unless their name is entered in this roll.
- Codes of Conduct and Standards: The Guild is obligated to prescribe industry standards and enforce a disciplinary and code of conduct framework among its members (Clause 7).
- Online Event Platform: The Cabinet Secretary responsible for trade must establish and maintain an online platform where persons in the creative industry can publish current affairs and events (Clause 4).
Funding Mechanisms
- The Creatives Fund: Comprising parliamentary appropriations, gifts, and grants, this fund will provide direct grants. Only registered practitioners aged 35 and under who have not received other state-sponsored financial assistance qualify (Clause 21).
- Credit Guarantee Scheme: Enables the Cabinet Secretary for Trade, in consultation with the Guild, to establish a credit guarantee scheme aimed at providing accessible financial support and risk-management training to creatives (Clause 22).
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