The creative industry is one of key sectors affected by the new coronavirus pandemic, which forced a lot of businesses to suspend their operations and cancel planned events. Although some activities were given a green light to resume in Rwanda, on condition that they observe the precautionary measures to avoid the spread of Covid-19, players in the creative industry continue to struggle to hold international festivals like Africa in Colours, a festival for the creative industry to do business and create a sustainable creative economy in and for Africa. The festival, the first of its kind in Rwanda, was initially due to take place from March 26-28 in Kigali, but was later suspended like many other events, including concerts and festivals, which were put on hold to avoid the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic. It intends to maximize visibility and exposure of existing talents beyond the African borders and promote their potential so that they are able to tell the African stories the ‘African way’. Raoul Rugamba, the CEO and Founder of African in Colours, and the brain behind the festival told The New Times that they have chosen to host the festival not only in a virtual way, but also on an extended timeline to achieve the initial conference’s vision. “With the mission and vision we had, we couldn’t just wait for that time when life comes back to normal and we decided to restructure our business model and created monthly activities,” Rugamba said in an interview. As the festival resumes, organisers said they will be producing a series of events/activities every month, from June till December 2020, targeting the creative industry as well as industry players across Africa. Monthly activities will vary from competitions, workshops and web-conferences, through which players from different areas of the creative industry will be empowered, educated, and access investment among other available opportunities. “Experts from various sectors of the creative industry in Africa and beyond, will share best practices which we could adopt for a sustainable African creative industry, which creates jobs and value for Africans,” he said. The first phase of the festival kicks off today, June 24, with a three-day ‘3D Online Boot Camp’, bringing together 300 participants from six African countries, namely Tunisia, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Togo and Rwanda. The online session, which runs until June 27, will focus on the use of 3D technology in the development of the creative industry. The participants are teams of African aspiring entrepreneurs aged between 18-30. Apart from the use of 3D technology, organisers have put video gaming, arts, music, fashion and film among other topics that will be at the centre of discussions in the next phases. “We are looking forward to seeing artistes, actors, and other players of the creative industry in Rwanda take advantage of these activities to build a stronger creative industry where they can improve their businesses around this sector and trade with the rest of African countries,” he explained.
