Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) director general Mayamiko Nkoloma has called on content creators in the country to work as a united block if efforts to have the Malawian content monetised are to bear quick results.
He said this yesterday during a meeting the communication regulator and visiting Meta team held with local content creators at Bingu International Convention Centre in Lilongwe.
Nkoloma said Macra does not work in isolation and it will require the support and collaboration of the creators to achieve the desired change.
“We will need to approach this drive with all the seriousness it deserves. It can be good if you could get organised and work as a bloc. We have gotten on board partners such as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) whom together we are working on developing a monetisation plan. It was good today that we brought the whole ecosystem together so that we can work on the way forward,” he said.
Nkoloma said things are changing quickly in the area of digitalisation with a lot of people flocking online to access information from content creators.
He said: “The traditional players need to up their game to remain afloat with current trends. At the same time, there is also need for sanity. So, we need to stick to ethics in how we conduct ourselves in that space. “
The DG said they will do whatever it takes to ensure that there should be something tangible on the ground in the next three months.
Ministry of Information and Communication Technology Principal Secretary Harold Msusa said government is keen to put in place an enabling framework to ensure that Malawian content creators start earning an income from their work.
“Our biggest commitment is to have Malawian content monetised. It is nice to see the progress that Macra is championing. As a country, we should not lag behind,” said Msusa.
He said they have given Macra one year to ensure that they get things done to monitise their content.
He said there is need to collaborate with necessary stakeholders.
On his part, Meta head of public policy for Southern Africa Thabo Makenete said there is need for the country to have connectivity infrastructure, payment infrastructure and requirements in terms of policy.
“The content has to be appealing to advertisers because we are into an advertising business. It has to be entertaining, informative, consistent and acceptable to our community standards,” he said.
