Creatives have sought an audience with Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) over monetising online content.
Currently, Malawi is among Africa countries where content on YouTube and Facebook is not monetised.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, videographer Khama Mbaula said the meeting set for March 15 in Lilongwe will, among others, update them on content monetisation through Facebook and YouTube.
“They promised us that by 2024, they would ensure our content gets monetised. But this is 2025 and nothing has happened,” he said.
Mbaula complained that although most of the content is being consumed through social media such as Facebook and YouTube, artists are gaining nothing financially.
In countries where Facebook and YouTube content is monetised, content creators are paid revenue per mile per 1 000 views. Creators earn depending on the type of content and audience they have.
Mbaula said it is surprising that despite the policy of not paying for the local content, the companies still collect money from local advertisers. He said it would only be fair if they were sharing them revenue from the local adverts.
The videographer also dismissed the notion that Malawi does not produce content that is marketable.
“There is good content available. First, we need to sell it locally and eventually break [into] the international market. There are people who are capable of producing high quality content, but they don’t because there is no financial gain,” he said.
United States of America-based filmmaker Chaz Daddi said having online content monetised will be a game-changer and he hopes that the proposed meeting will unlock the possibility.
He said: “The artists are losing out on big revenue. If things change then their lives will change. They won’t even have to work too. Art will be enough for their survival.
“Even for those who opened their accounts from outside the country are able just to make 30 percent of what they can make because most views we get are from Malawi.”
In a separate interview, Macra director general Daudi Suleman said monetisation of the Malawian content is at an advanced stage.
“We have presented all the data and records as requested and we are waiting from them [YouTube]. There has been continuous engagement on the matter,” he said.
Suleman said issues preventing the online content from being monetised in the country include low numbers of smart devices and low consumption of digital services.
He said: “We have made progress over time. The current budget has removed duty on imported smart devices to grow that population. We are pushing and making necessary efforts with government agencies to fix our end.”
Suleman said the planned meeting is an opportunity for the authority to appraise stakeholders of the developments in and around the digital spaces.
