Lagos home of new BBC burea

NIGERIA: OVER 100 new jobs have been created in Nigeria in part of the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) biggest expansion since the 1940s. BBC is investing in the Nigerian television market - and in the process ensuring stories focus on young people and women across the whole of West Africa. The new BBC burea in Lagos, Nigia, will boast a new state of the art TV studio and two radio stations for up to 200 people, with access to mentorship and internship opportunities for the next generation of the West African journalists. BBC will be launching more TV programmes for Africa later this year , offering local independent producers the chance to be involved in co-productions and BBC commissions. BBC international news has an audience of 36-million in Nigeria, currently the largest of any country. Read more. 

 

Tap creative industries to boost Africa’s economic growth

AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE: Aubrey Hruby in a recent Financial Times article motivated that Arican governments - in the face the daunting challenge of tackling unemployment and creating millions of new jobs - will need to add non-traditional strategies to their national development plans. He suggests that the creative and cultural industries are animportant piece of their future planning and models. puzzle. "African governments should embrace and support the creative industries in their efforts to drive sustainable development and create jobs. Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda and others place a strong focus on agriculture in their latest development plans, while countries such as Ethiopia prioritise industrial growth. The creative industries should be an added layer in constructing more diverse and economically viable markets. Jobs in the creative and cultural economy have proved resilient to the economic shocks that consistently hurt core sectors in many African economies. In 2016, the Nigerian economy fell into recession, but while the oil sector struggled, the creative industries saw impressive growth." Read more.

 

Mental health and the creative industries

IRELAND: Ulster University recently completed a study showing how creatorss working in Northern Ireland's creative industries are three times more likely to experience mental health problems. They found irregular working hours, the lack of job security and poor pay all impact on wellbeing. Problems also arise because people feel society undervalues their work, the research suggests. The study found anxiety and depression were the most common disorders. Read more.

 

NEA, US arts agencies given funding boost by Congress

UNITED STATES: Despite calling to slash national funding for the arts, President Donald Trump signed a $1.3tr spending bill passed by Congress on Friday (23 March) that guarantees funding for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In fact, the agencies received a boost of roughly $3m, tipping their budgets up to $153m for the 2018 fiscal year. Read more.