MoTIV Creations Ltd. launches MoTIVATED Impact to promote locabrands
MoTIV Creations Ltd. has launched MoTIVATED Impact, an initiative aimed at supporting Ugandan businesses through promoting local sourcing by corporate companies under the theme ‘Creating sustainable impact through applied technology hubs’.
MoTIV Creations Ltd. provides an opportunity for makers to have access to high quality innovative machinery, training, and a marketplace.
During the MoTIVATED Impact Launch on Tuesday, the MoTIV Team Lead CK Japheth stated that Uganda is brewing with a lot of untapped talent that can be capitalised to create job opportunities and a thriving economy.
“Creative entrepreneurs have the opportunity to scale their businesses to meet demand for local and international markets through manufacturing. However, for this to happen we have a responsibility to create an enabling ecosystem that will favor makers and artisans right from the idea stage through production and on to the market. Solutions that foster collaboration, impact and sustainability such as MoTIV should be our new normal with support from Partners.”
According to a 2018 report by UNESCO, the creative economy is made up of cultural and creative industry sectors that generate annual revenues of US$2,250 billion and global exports of over US$250 billion. According to recent forecasts, these sectors will represent around 10% of global GDP in the years to come. The cultural and creative industries currently provide nearly 30 million jobs worldwide and employ more people aged 15−29 than any other sector. Nearly half of the people working in the cultural and creative industries are women, opening up new opportunities to address gender inequalities.
“This shows that there is potential within this sector and MoTIV is working diligently to unlock and enable this potential in Uganda. We consider women important in unlocking this potential through the pillars they are ably participating in such as metal and woodwork.”
CK added that ‘MoTIV has built a unique network of Ugandan creative entrepreneurs that produce high quality and unique products across the country. Through MoTIVATED Impact we leverage our unique network to deliver products to corporate organisations.’
During a panel discussion, that included Marci Onsinyo, Evelyn Zalwango from Fundi Women and Collin Mugisha from American Towers (ATC) one of the challenges noted within the creative sector is the ability to produce at scale due to the capital intensive resources needed and the support system to access market and funding.
MoTIV has provided a holistic solution for this through the machinery and human resources provided. Creatives now have the opportunity to produce at scale and corporates can now locally source and place large orders because small brands will be able to produce larger quantities.
Another challenge mentioned by the panelists was the perception that Ugandan made products and materials are not of good quality citing a need for mindset shift. “Materials indeginous to Uganda such as barkcloth are being used abroad in countries such as Germany and the US and we need to start appreciating and using what we have locally in supporting and enabling the ecosystem.” said Marci Onsinyo.
Nicholas Spencer, the Marketplace Lead at MoTIV noted ‘Uganda’s population is dominated by the youth who make up to 75% in an economy that is experiencing scarcity of jobs. “A provision of skilling and manufacturing capacity to the creative industry has the ability to solve the unemployment problem with the capability to meet demand for both local and international markets. Corporate companies need to support Ugandan business to not only positively impact communities but also foster economic growth.’
MoTIV has five pillars which include textile, wood & metal, media, kitchen station and co-working space providing an opportunity to access tools, training, a tribe and a marketplace where brands sell their products.
For more information, visit the MoTIV website: motivug.org or call Caroline Owomuhangi on +256 775915089
For purchasing from Ugandan brands visit our shop website: shop.motivug.org