By Ian Kiprop and Antony Mwaura
Introduction
Digital content refers to audiovisual media shared over the Internet, encompassing videos, music, games, and publications. Digital content creation is the process of producing and managing various media forms, including text, images, videos, audio, and graphics, for online platforms to entertain, inform, or educate audiences. This sector has emerged as a valuable avenue for youth employment, with platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram offering opportunities to monetize content. A 2022 Geopoll survey indicated that 27 per cent of young Kenyans have engaged in digital content creation.
The digital content space has a low entry barrier compared to traditional employment, as anyone can participate from anywhere with basic tools, often just a smartphone. The range of opportunities, from content production to distribution and monetization, provides an untapped potential for addressing youth unemployment and associated poverty and social unrests. This blog focuses on the use of digital content creation as a source of employment.
Status of Employment in Digital Content Creation
Digital content creation
Digital content creation plays a significant role in job creation for the youth. Around 15 per cent of those engaged in digital content creation consider it their primary income source, with earnings coming from advertisements, sponsorships, and product placements on platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. The key sectors include entertainment, education, influencer marketing, and freelance services. The line between users and content creators is often blurred as users increasingly engage in content creation and distribution.
Content production requires skills in writing, filming, and editing, while content distribution involves expertise in digital marketing and social media strategy. Monetization is crucial, with creators earning revenue through ads, affiliate marketing, and brand deals. However, features such as YouTube’s “Super Chat” and channel memberships, which provide additional income, are restricted. Engagement with audiences is also essential, requiring skills in community management and social media strategy.
The digital content market is vast. Revenue in the digital media market is estimated at Ksh 27.61 billion, with video-on-demand being the dominant segment (Statista Market Insights, 2024). In 2019, the Bloggers Association of Kenya reported over 35,000 blogs in the country, showcasing the scope for written content creation.
Policy and regulatory framework
The digital landscape is governed policy and legislative frameworks such as the Kenya Information and Communications Act (1998), the Data Protection Act (2019), and the Copyright Act (2001), which address issues such as privacy, copyright, and cybercrime. The Digital Economy Blueprint (2019) outlines the vision for a robust digital ecosystem. However, gaps exist, including cross-border data usage, piracy, harassment of creators, and monetization challenges. A more comprehensive framework is needed to support content creators fully.
The Kenya Vision 2030 envisions the National Optic Fibre Backbone Infrastructure (NOFBI) in a bid to ensure maximum utilization of capacity and connectivity in all districts in the country. Further, BETA projects such as the Kenya Digital Superhighway is a bold and ambitious initiative to create a robust and interconnected digital ecosystem across Kenya by prioritizes empowerment of citizens and small-scale entrepreneurs.
Challenges in Digital Content Creation
Access to digital infrastructure
The ICT sector has grown rapidly, with an average annual growth rate of 10.8 per cent, but there are significant disparities in Internet access. For example, only 13.7 per cent of rural residents had Internet access compared to 42.5 per cent in urban areas (Kenya Housing and Population Census, 2019), limiting the ability of young people to create and distribute digital content.
Monetization hurdles
The country does not have a comprehensive policy framework for digital content monetization. Additionally, monetization features such as ‘Super Chat’, a YouTube monetization feature on YouTube that allows viewers to pay to have their messages highlighted in the chat during live streams, are unavailable in the country, which limits local content creators opportunities to engage audiences and earn revenue through diverse income streams.
Market saturation
The digital content industry is highly competitive, with millions of creators competing for visibility. Standing out requires technical skills in production, marketing, strategy and controlling inappropriate content creation.
Opportunities in Digital Content
Tech-savvy youth
Kenya has a large, tech-savvy youth population. With the population of young people projected to grow to 22.7 million by 2030, Kenya is poised to leverage this tech-literate generation. The Government and private sector can exploit this potential by supporting the youth develop skills in content creation, videography, scriptwriting, and editing.
Cultural content monetization
The rich cultural diversity among over 47 ethnic groups presents a unique opportunity for content creators to highlight the country’s cultural heritage. In 2022, cultural and heritage sites attracted 856,604 visitors, demonstrating the potential for creators to showcase Kenya’s customs and landmarks on a global stage, fostering cultural tourism and research.
Creative industries
Globally, there is growing demand for creative services, such as software development and audiovisual production, which can be integrated with content creation. Animation and visualization offer job opportunities for advertising and marketing.
Recommendations
Digital content creation presents a significant opportunity to address youth unemployment in Kenya, which can be exploited through collaboration between the government, private sector, and creators.
Expand internet access
The Ministry of ICT could focus on expanding initiatives such as the Kenya Digital Superhighway Project to underserved areas. This includes ensuring affordable and reliable Internet access, particularly in rural regions, to enable more young people to engage in digital content creation.
Promote skill development
The Ministry of Education could partner with industry experts to create skill development programmes in digital content creation. These programmes could focus on audio and video production, content strategy, monetization of digital content, digital marketing, and writing, enabling the youth to acquire the necessary skills through workshops, boot camps, and certification programmes.
Develop a comprehensive digital policy
The Ministry of ICT, together with the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), could develop a comprehensive policy framework that addresses gaps in geo-restricted monetization, content moderation, and modern piracy, and provide measures to protect content creators from harassment and improve their access to revenue-generating opportunities.
