Officials on Monday, May 24, emphasised the importance of harnessing Rwanda's rich heritage and culture by ensuring that arts, culture and heritage contribute significantly to growth and transformation.

This was during a press conference held in Kigali by Protais Musoni, Chairperson Pan African Movement-Rwanda and Amb. Robert Masozera, Director-General of the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy, ahead of this year's joint African Liberation Day and International Museums Day on Tuesday, May 25.

Africa Day, formerly African Liberation Day, is the annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity on May 25, 1963.

This year's celebrations will be held under the theme: "Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers to build the Africa we want".

Musoni said that Rwandans, and especially those in the creative arts industry, need to understand that culture, arts and heritage can contribute to an integrated prosperous and peaceful Africa with a strong voice on the global scene.

"A change of mindset is crucial. Arts, culture and heritage are agenda shapers. They practice leadership. If it can be done consciously; the film you make, the song you produce, and other creations, then that will take us to the Africa we want," Musoni said.

"Conscious leadership can be practiced by the industry. Advanced economies focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) but these days they are adding arts, culture and heritage so that this can be blended to the hard sciences to produce goods and services that quickly transform the nation."

Also important, he noted, music, films and others "know no borders," and as such, if consciously used, "can quickly integrate Africa."

Masozera explained that in recognition of the importance of culture, arts and heritage in promoting the objectives of Agenda 2063 to achieve sustainable economic growth and development, and the need to strengthen the role that the creative industries will play, African leaders declared the year 2021 as the "year of arts, culture and heritage".

The declaration, he noted, will ensure that countries will allocate the necessary resources and implement relevant policies and programs to establish a stronger and more sustainable creative industries sector.

This  year's theme is meant to raise public awareness of the importance of safeguarding the richness of African culture.

It is also to raise public awareness of the importance for African artists to preserve and promote inherent African values through their artistic expressions as a way of decolonization and emancipation of African artistic works that were subjected to the influence of Western colonization and neo-colonization.

Amb. Masozera said African leaders set this year's theme at a time when Rwanda's creative industry was "showing promise more than ever before and at a time when the government was also realising the importance of this sector in supporting development."

The local creative industry is urged to focus on the development of products whose "content is drawn from our cultural heritage" and create products that are competitive on a continental and global scale.

The creative industries are among the most dynamic sectors of the global economy, providing new opportunities for developing countries to enter the high-growth emerging areas of the global economy.

According to the Africa Policy and Politics 2016 report, the creative industries are estimated to generate $2.25 trillion in revenues globally and in Africa, generating $4.2 billion and 547,500 jobs in 2016.

In Rwanda, Masozera said, the creative arts industry "employs a good number of people," especially the youth.

He noted that data from the National Institute of Statistics confirms the rapid growth of the country's creative sector.

In absolute terms, he said, the industry - cultural, domestic and other services - increased 36-fold in 17 years, from Rwf9 billion in 1999 ($10.6 million today) to Rwf 328 billion in 2016 ($366.5 million today).

Celebrations on Tuesday will be held mainly virtually, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, at the  Rwanda Art Museum, in Kanombe, Kigali, with the exhibition of a wide range of artistic creations drawn from Rwandan heritage. The exhibition will last up to August 23.

Masozera said: "It will be an exhibition aimed at helping artists to showcase their creations as well as do business since many have faced challenges caused by this Covid-19 pandemic."

In February 2015, Rwanda adopted a national cultural heritage policy which, among others, aims to make legal instruments that facilitate the full exploitation of the economic potential in the creative arts.

A cultural mapping exercise was undertaken aimed at building the capacity of cultural and creative industry actors in order to consolidate the creative industry as a strategic growth sector contributing to economic growth, job creation, income generation and improvement of living conditions.

The creative industry, it is noted, has rich social, cultural and economic benefits that include: fostering unity, peace, reconciliation; as well as job creation and income generation.

But there are still challenges - including insufficient space for cultural expression, high equipment investment costs, and inadequacies in enforcement of the copyright law - hindering its growth, effectiveness and sustainability. 

Low levels of technology in the production of traditional Rwandan art crafts, inadequate skills for the majority of creative industry players, and inadequate investments in research relating to cultural heritage are some other challenges.