Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communications and the digital Economy has been engaged in discussions with several of the major social media and digital platforms in recent days, with content monetisation a contested topic.
John Tanui, permanent secretary of the ministry, has revealed that his team has, this week, been engaging executives from Google, Meta and other online digital platform providers operating in Kenya, to ensure monetisation of content for the digital creators.
Mercy Ndegwa, Meta’s public policy director, East and Horn of Africa, led the team that met Tanui on Monday.
Prior to that, Tanui had met some 35 digital creators at the ministry headquarters in a session to understand some of the monetisation challenges the creators faced and to devise ways of collaboration to grow the sector and income levels.
High taxation, account hacking, pseudo accounts, account deactivation and demonetisation were highlighted, by the creators, as impediments in a space that can be volatile.
Tanui said his ministry was committed to supporting creators to make the most of their content and to help grow Kenya's digital economy.
"The government has prioritised the Digital Superhighway and the Creative Economy as a key enabler in growing and transforming all the other sectors of the government agenda," he said of the government's efforts to diversify the economy.
Kenya's creatives feel they are being sidelined and deserve the same monetary rewards as their counterparts globally.
However, Meta’s Ndegwa advised digital creators to adhere to the stipulated social media policies and community guidelines.
A lack of compliance with this was denying them opportunities to benefit from monetisation, she said.
Meta has pledged to partner with the ministry in Kenya to organise training for content creators.
In August, Meta rolled out two new monetisation features, namely Instream Ads on Facebook and Facebook Ads on reels.
It is anticipated these will enable content creators to earn money for crafting original videos and cultivating a community.
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