The Ministry of ICT, Innovation & Youth Affairs, and Netflix on Wednesday, May 4 signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly deliver efforts to strengthen the country’s creative industry.
The MoU which is the first of its kind for Netflix in Africa will focus on skills & capacity development, creative sector infrastructure development, marketing, and media spend, digital consumer protection, and local content investment.
According to the MoU, joint initiatives that will be undertaken by Netflix and various local partners will be under the four pillars;
Local content investment
As part of this MOU, Netflix has invested in 3 Kenyan co-productions - which are currently in various stages of production while a number of licensed local titles are being reviewed by Netflix.
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Human Capital development
Netflix will commit to supporting human capital development and institutional capacity building to enhance the digital content ecosystem in Kenya.
This commitment includes the Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Fund for Africa which is being administered through HEVA Fund for the East Africa region. Under the MOU, US$100 000 will fund scholarships for 30 beneficiaries covering tuition, living expenses, learning materials and stipend, in support of Kenya Film School and the African Digital Media institute.
A further US$200,000 has been allocated towards scholarships (inclusive of fees, accommodation, living costs, learning materials and stipend) for aspiring creatives to study at other Kenyan institutions that provide film and TV studies.
Marketing, media & digital consumer protection
Netflix will collaborate with Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) to promote responsible digital parenting and appropriate viewing practices for consumers of online content and Netflix members.
The collaboration will include the rollout of educational tools on online safety, joint sensitization programs on digital parenting and joint campaigns on age-appropriate online environments.
Creative sector infrastructure development
Netflix will collaborate with the Kenya Film Commission (KFC) and other stakeholders to be determined by KFC to provide institutional capacity building and provide technical support towards the design, establishment and rollout of a fit-for-purpose screen production sector incentive and the requisite frameworks for operationalizing the structure in Kenya.
Netflix will also partner with the KFC to identify capacity development areas that would benefit the local creative ecosystem.
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