Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has distributed Phase II of the Universal Service Fund (USF) grants totalling K62.4 million to five groups who are expected to produce appealing local content for online consumption.
Speaking on Thursday in Lilongwe during the handover of the grants, Macra head of USF Ronald Tembo said they are already in advanced stages of negotiations with some global media platforms such as Meta on how best they can make local creators realise returns from their content.
“This is work in progress and we will soon be making announcements as to what we have agreed with these platforms. Content creators deserve to benefit from their work,” he said.
In her remarks, Minister of Tourism Vera Kamtukule called on Macra to find ways of helping online content creators make money from their content.
“Macra should do something about this, even if it means finding ways to motivate advertisers on the platforms where the content is watched,” she said.
Kendal Kamwendo, speaking on behalf of 4Kaya Films, creators of School Days and Welcome to Maula movies and beneficiaries of the USF, said quality productions require heavy financing; hence, the need to open up monetisation systems with global media platforms for content creators to get a return for their investment.
