Newsletter
The impact of Covid 19 on the Creative Industry

The first ever global mapping of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), conducted by EY (Ernst & Young) in 2013,showed that the sector generated rev-enues of US$2.25 trillion and employed near-ly 30 million people. The book publishing industry alone contributed US $143 billion and employed over 3.6 million people world-wide. This makes the industry an integral part of the global economy.Kenya has a rich and diverse cultural heritage. Throughout our history, the cultural and creative sector has offered diverse cultural content, even in times of major political and economic upheavals. For over 20 years after independence, the Kenyan publishing landscape was dominated by multinational, mostly British, book publishers who focused on textbook publishing for the school market.These multinationals would commission content creation locally, export it to their home countries for publishing and production and then import printed books for sales, marketing and distribution. Hence, most of the jobs local knowledge created were in the multinationals’ mother countries, where prots would also be repatriated.The situation has changed signicantly over the last three decades. Today, there are over 100 indigenous publishing houses in Kenya and only one multinational. While publishing is still heavily tilted towards textbooks, the ction and nonction genres are nonetheless gaining ground. Notwithstanding, the strength of the book supply chain hinges on the health of text-book publishing which dominates the industry with about 85% market share.Schools are the biggest market for books in Kenya, and most of sub-Saharan Africa. With the closure of institutions of learning for over six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, sales of textbooks and general books have plum-meted to a record low. Some booksellers, espe-cially those who depend on textbooks sales to survive, have been forced to close shop while others have only struggled on.Bookshops are the main channels of dis-tribution through which customers interact with books. With fewer channels available, and with an unprecedented low demand, publishersand booksellers are left holding high inventory. Their working capital is not only tied up in inventory, their cash too has dried up owing to high xed costs.Consequently, some publishers have scaled back the release of new titles. With fewer new titles being published, writers, freelance edi-tors and proofreaders, illustrators and other service providers are going with-out work. Further, published authors are either earning measly sums from royalties,or nothing at all.Closure of bookshops and reduced activity in publishing houses has led to employ-ee layoffs across the book industry or at best, employees have had to take pay cuts.Covid-19 has therefore weakened the publishing indus-try’s capacity to contribute to the economy and to employment at the level commensurate to its potential.Furthermore, actors in the book industry organise festivals throughout the calendar year to ensure books and reading stay within people’s consciousness. Such events include literary festivals, author appearances and open mic poetry performances. These are important touch points for readers to experi-ence books and meet authors, as well as op-portunities for shaping cultural consumption. The industry must therefore now work harder and more creatively to have their efforts no-ticed.Notwithstanding, Covid-19 has only ac-celerated a digital transformation that has been ongoing for over 20 years. It is clear that digital business will usher in an era of extreme velocity. When the internet came along, it threatened to turn some industries upside down – music, newspapers, movies, TV and much later, books. While some adapted to the pace of change, the book industry has lagged behind in understanding what it takes to build an organisation in a digital age.Hence, for the book industry to survive and thrive, it is essential that actors in the supply chain understand what’s necessary to build new business models with disruptive technology. Further, book businesses would be better positioned if they forged their own digital journeys by infusing a digital mindset into the organisational DNA. The real problem is g-uring how to get from here to there – a good leadership challenge.Covid-19 has also exposed the publishing industry’s under-investment in non-textbook genres. But perhaps the underlying problem is a weak culture of reading. For the book industry to succeed in supplying more ction and non-ction titles, it must rst succeed in increasing the number of people reading general books and in creating a more literate environment – an environment in which individuals and groups can acquire, nurture, sustain and use literacy skills.To unlock the full potential of this essen-tial industry, government can create a more enabling business environment through public policies that support book development, culture of reading, as well as schools and community libraries.David Waweru is a publishing consultant and author. He is also a member of the UNESCO Expert Facility for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity Cultural Expressions. He has previously served as a director of KECOBO