Arts and culture are important to national economies. Arts and culture-related industries, also known as “creative industries,” provide direct economic benefits to countries and communities. They create jobs, attract investments, generate tax revenues, and stimulate local economies through tourism and consumer purchases.
These industries also provide an array of other benefits, such as infusing other industries with creative insight for their products and services and preparing workers to participate in the contemporary workforce. In addition, because they enhance quality of life, the arts and culture are an important complement to community development, enriching local amenities and attracting young professionals to an area.
Governments increasingly recognize the importance of the creative sector to their states’ economy and ability to compete in the global marketplace. A number of factors underscore the connection between economic competitiveness and creativity. For example, in the current global economy, creative and new media industries are growing in number and playing increasingly prominent economic and social roles. Companies’ decisions about where to locate their businesses often are influenced by factors such as the ready availability of a creative workforce and the quality of life available to employees.
Arts and culture can play a major role in community development and redevelopment by creating new jobs as well as fostering an environment and amenities that attract talented young workers. Tourism centered on arts and culture can contribute to national economic growth by providing a diversified and sustainable means for creating jobs and attracting revenue.
In this environment, a country’s arts and cultural resources can be economic assets. The arts and cultural industries provide jobs, attract investments, and stimulate local economies through tourism, consumer purchases, and tax revenue. Perhaps more significantly, they also prepare workers to participate in the contemporary workforce, create communities with high appeal to residents, businesses, and tourists, and contribute to the economic success of other sectors.
Countries define their creative economies in a variety of ways, depending on the composition and character of businesses, nonprofits, individuals, and venues that exist in any given areas. The creative economy may include human, organizational, and physical assets. It also includes many types of cultural institutions, artistic disciplines, and business pursuits.
Industries that comprise the arts and culture sector may include advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, fashion, film, digital media, television, radio, music, software and computer games, the performing arts, publishing, graphic arts, and cultural tourism.
From the work of nonprofit arts agencies to the impact of cultural tourism, it is clear that the creative sector is important to state economies all across the country. The creative industry in Arkansas, the United States for example, employs nearly 27,000 individuals and generates $927 million in personal income for Arkansas citizens in 2020. Creative enterprises are the state’s third largest employer after transport and logistics and perishable and processed foods.
In the state of North Carolina, the wages and income of workers employed by creative industries infused $3.9 billion into the state’s economy in 2020. And in Massachusetts state, the 17.6 percent yearly growth of the cultural sector contributed $4.23 billion to the state’s economy.
To help their countries realize the full potential and economic benefits of the arts and culture sector, governments must identify the pivotal creative industries or clusters in the state. Then, they can adopt strategies that support and strengthen these industries. These include offering incentives targeted at the arts and culture sectors as well as development initiatives, entrepreneurial training, marketing programs, or public-private collaborations to encourage growth and invest in specific creative clusters.
In the United States state of Michigan, for example, has enacted a comprehensive incentive program, which includes tax credits, designed to entice film projects to locate in the state. The state of Kentucky offers a “Craft Marketing Program” that provides business and product development services to participating artists and helps market their work both inside and outside the state.
In addition, some states are encouraging collaborations between artists, designers, and product engineers in a variety of manufacturing and high-tech industries. In California, for example, the University of California Santa Cruz has partnered with local industry and the city of Santa Cruz to establish the “Santa Cruz Design Innovation Center”. The center’s goal is to leverage local design talent to grow design-based business and attract new businesses to the area. Such collaborations stimulate new thinking, encourage new product development, and make the most of a state’s collective creative and business resources.
The creative industries offer numerous benefits to national economies, and countries have an opportunity to both improve livability and boost national economies by investing in the arts and culture.
Arts, Culture and Economy
Getinge Partners with IFC to Bolster Supplies of Life-saving Equipment Across Africa
A leading manufacturer of medical and life sciences equipment, Getinge, has joined IFC’s Africa Medical Equipment Facility, an initiative designed to help healthcare providers in sub-Saharan Africa have better access to life-saving equipment and supplies, IFC announced.
Sweden-headquartered Getinge’s participation in the IFC-led facility will expand opportunities for medical clinics and hospitals in Africa to obtain and service medical equipment, including devices that assist surgeons during lung and heart surgery, machines used to administer anesthesia, ventilators, and other critical devices needed during surgeries and in intensive care.
“We’re proud to participate in an initiative that helps patients by ensuring the supply of critical medical equipment where it’s urgently needed,” said Sebastien Blanche, Global Head of Getinge Financial Services. “In this joint effort, we will not only make the devices more affordable, but also help build sustainable service plans for their continued use.”
Amid growing famine risk in Somalia, un humanitarian visit in Galkayo highlights dire conditions of displaced Somalis
On a visit to the city of Galkayo in northern Somalia, top United Nations humanitarian officials heard first-hand of the dire conditions that local communities of internally displaced people (IDPs) are enduring amid the severe drought affecting the country – with the visit also providing extra motivation to do more to help those in need as the risk of famine in Somalia grows.
“It gave me the firsthand testimony that I need to provide to our donors and to let them know that it is not a fictional thing to talk about the 1.4 million malnourished children – 330,000 of whom are at risk of dying by the end of this summer if we don’t step up our engagement and provide them with the support they need,” the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Adam Abdelmoula, said after visiting two IDP camps in the city’s north.
Afreximbank launches $4 bln Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme
The Board of Directors of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) approved the launch of the Ukraine Crisis Adjustment Trade Financing Programme for Africa (UKAFPA), a programme of credit facilities that the Bank has developed to manage the impacts of the Ukraine crisis on African economies and businesses. The programme amounts to US$ 4 billion.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis which escalated on 24 February 2022 has had a significant effect on the global economy. Given the importance of both Russia and Ukraine as sources of crude oil and gas, raw materials and grains, the outbreak of the conflict has wider repercussions on a global scale, including adversely affecting African economies, especially those that rely heavily on grain, fertilizer and fuel imports.
Since its establishment, Afreximbank has built a track record and earned a reputation for introducing and implementing various emergency intervention programmes, with embedded strong risk mitigations to respond to various crises on a global scale and impacting Africa. Recent examples include the Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility (PATIMFA) through which Afreximbank disbursed over US$7 billion in support of African economies in their fight against the Covid 19 pandemic.
