Government says Malawian content creators could begin earning revenue directly from social media platforms before the end of this year, marking a significant milestone for the country’s growing digital creative industry.
Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Dr. Shadric Namalomba, disclosed this in an interview with ProjectM, saying ongoing engagements with Meta have yielded positive results.
Namalomba said representatives from Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, have shown commitment to extending monetisation opportunities to Malawian creators.
“If you remember, we recently held discussions involving more than 100 creatives and representatives from Meta. I am pleased to report that those engagements have started bearing fruit,” he said.
The minister explained that government is currently working on meeting a number of requirements set by the platform to facilitate the rollout of the programme.
“We were given targets to fulfil, including technical requirements, payment systems and eligibility guidelines. Most of these are already being implemented,” said Namalomba.
He expressed optimism that the initiative will unlock new economic opportunities for young people and transform content creation into a viable source of income.
“It is our wish to see content creation become a reliable job market for citizens,” he added.
Local content creator Patwell Phiri, popularly known as Sadzu the Poet, welcomed the development, saying it has the potential to create employment and promote Malawian stories on the global stage.
“If the rollout materialises this time, it will create much-needed jobs and help retain creative talent within the country,” said Phiri.
Meanwhile, government has called on stakeholders to support efforts aimed at strengthening the country’s digital economy to ensure that local creators fully benefit from emerging opportunities in the online space.
