Creative sector calls for financial, legal reforms to unlock Tanzania’s creative economy

The useful part

The call was made at the MELACHA Creative Economy Summit 2026, held in Dar es Salaam on Friday as part of Innovation Week 2026. The summit, hosted by Unleashed Africa, brought together creatives, policymakers, investors, businesses and other players to discuss how Tanzania can build a more investable creative economy. MELACHA Director Ms Khalila Mbowe said many of the systems currently in place were not designed with the creative industry in mind, creating barriers for people whose incomes often do not follow the conventional employment model.

How it works

• Ms Mbowe said Tanzania's creative workforce is predominantly young, with the majority aged between 19 and 25 years.
• Men account for 69 percent of the workforce, compared with 31 percent women, while 85 percent of creative workers lack insurance.
• She said the figures highlight the vulnerability of a workforce that is increasingly carrying economic responsibility but remains largely outside systems designed to provide social and financial protection.
• For Afiki Designs co-founder Ms Theocabrini Mwakyusa, however, changes in the wider system must be matched by changes among creatives themselves.
• He urged creatives to recognise that building value begins with how they view and manage their own work.

What to take from it

"The system has been created for other things and not the creative industry. They need communication, personal branding, time management and financial management," she said. She added that creative entrepreneurs also need practical business skills covering pricing, contracts, intellectual property, bookkeeping, negotiations and business modelling.

Details worth keeping

Stakeholders in Tanzania's creative industry have called for the major overhaul of the systems governing access to finance, insurance, intellectual property protection and taxation to support sector's into sustainable businesses and jobs.