Call for Tanzanian artists to reinvest earnings into value chain activities
DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA’S Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, has called on the country’s artists to reinvest their earnings into value chain activities as their Arts and Culture sector has been recognized as a major contributor to the economic growth of the nation.
Besides its role in job creation, the formalization of sector-related work, the Arts and Culture sector also promotes societal values.
According to a 2022 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the sector contributed 3.1 percent to the global GDP and accounted for 6.2 percent of global employment, equivalent to 50 million jobs worldwide.
Speaking on May 17, 2025, during the Second National Stakeholders’ Meeting on Culture and Arts held at the Millennium Tower in Dar es Salaam, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa urged Tanzanian artists to reinvest their earnings into value chain activities related to the arts in order to expand job opportunities for youth and boost national income.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the sector employs all social groups without discrimination, including people with disabilities, youth, the elderly, and children of different genders and backgrounds. He added that the sector is a powerful driver of entrepreneurship, as many artists are now starting businesses, formalizing them, and integrating into systems recognized by financial institutions.
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Majaliwa also called on all artists to focus on producing high-quality work and to formalize their artistic activities through relevant government and private institutions. This, he noted, would help them benefit from the growing number of opportunities available in the sector.
On his part, the Minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, Professor Palamagamba Kabudi, said the meeting was the second in a series organized by the Tanzania Culture and Arts Fund, aimed at bringing stakeholders together to share experiences, discuss achievements and challenges, and develop collective strategies for sectoral development.
Addressing the issue of artist financing, Professor Kabudi stated that the demand for loans is significantly higher than the capital currently held by artists. He recommended that the current maximum loan amount of 100m/- be doubled to align with the actual investment needs of the sector.
He revealed that the government has already issued low-interest loans to more than 580 artist-led projects, with a repayment rate of 96 percent, demonstrating both the beneficiaries’ commitment and the government’s seriousness in supporting the sector’s growth.
Furthermore, Professor Kabudi thanked the government under President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan for continuously increasing the budget for the Culture Fund. For the fiscal year 2025/2026, the fund has grown to 4bn/- up from 1.6bn/- in 2023/2024.
