Selam Ethiopia holds its fourth episode of ‘Selam talks’ , a panel discussion, on the topic of “Unlocking Ethiopia’s Creative Potential”.
The panel discussion was held on Thursday August 3rd, 2023 at Vibes Hotel, in the capital Addis Ababa. In the panel discussion, the national assessment Selam Ethiopia conducted on the potential of the Art and culture sector of Ethiopia in creating jobs was presented.
Dr. Bayleyegn Tasew, Lecturer at Addis Ababa University and Editor-in-chief of Zena-Lissan research journal published by the Academy of Ethiopian Languages and Cultures at Addis Ababa University presented the research, Leul Yohannes, Senior Advisor for jobs and employment Affairs at FDRE Ministry of Labor and Skills, Teferi Teklu, Chief Executive Officer of the Creative Art Development (MoCS), Seminas Hadera, Gerar- The creative Hub and Mohammed Kassa an event organizer served as panelists while Yikunoamlak Mezgebu, Director General of National Archives and Library of Ethiopia and AAU lecturer in Ethiopian Languages and Literature was the moderator.
Leul Yohannes, Senior Advisor for jobs and employment Affairs at FDRE Ministry of Labor and Skills said ”unemployment is a fundamental issue and out of every 100 unemployed people in the world two are found in Ethiopia. To make employment sustainable, we should focus on the art and culture industry. Creative arts is a work of passion so people will stay their whole lives in it”. Leul added, the arts/culture sector is not led by technology. It needs lobbying.
Teferi Teklu, Chief Executive Officer of the Creative Art Development (MoCS) and Seminas Hadera, Gerar- The creative Hub respectively said most of the work is done by the creatives themselves so they need to be organized and the creative industry is being governed by creators but it should also be governed by people in business. We have previously provided training for accountants in the industry.
Participants mentioned that when studies are carried out, value chains are not taken into account so they should be included in the future and that stakeholders that have a responsibility to carry out when it comes to the arts/culture sector should participate in these kinds of platforms.
It is to be recalled that Selam Ethiopia in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and skill had carried out a validation workshop on March 10, 2023 at Selam Ethiopia’s office on the potential of the arts in creating jobs. The validation workshop was attended by participants from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Ministry of labor and skills, Addis Ababa University, professionals who have an enterprise in the sector, researchers and professional associations.