NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 2 – The government has announced a new strategy to pay content creators who produce material promoting its key development programs.
Head of Presidential Special Projects and the Creative Economy Dennis Itumbi said the initiative will cover sectors such as housing, health, job creation, and agriculture.
Speaking at a creators’ education forum in Nairobi on Wednesday, Itumbi urged digital content producers to send in proposals to the Creative Economy Office, laying out how they intend to showcase government projects in creative ways.
“Make creative content around housing, health, agriculture, and other key government projects and the Government will pay you to promote those initiatives,” he stated.
“Challenged TikTok to unlock the full monetisation package for creators and pointed out that the Government would channel some advertising spend to TikTok for creators interested in promoting Housing, Health, Agriculture, Economy and other programmes the Government is involved in.”
He noted that the government has shifted its advertising approach from traditional media to digital platforms frequented by younger audiences and recalled that one of President William Ruto’s early directives after assuming office in 2022 was to allocate at least 30% of government advertising spending to digital channels.
Itumbi also pressed for platforms like TikTok to fully unlock monetization tools for Kenyan creators.
He suggested lowering thresholds for eligibility, integrating M-Pesa for smoother payments, and establishing a physical TikTok office in Kenya to facilitate better engagement and oversight.
This new strategy could have major implications for how government messages reach the public and how creators are compensated in Kenya’s growing creative economy.
