CDEA’s Creative Economy Incubator & Accelerator Initiative

CDEA’s Creative Economy Incubator & Accelerator Initiative is a platform that empowers artists, artisans and creative entrepreneurs to implement their artistic and business ideas based on an open call to join the incubator for incubatees from East Africa.

Vision

Artists, artisans and creative enterprises in the fashion and accessories design, film and music industries contributing significantly to the GDP of the East African states

Mission

To provide artists, artisans and creative enterprises in the fashion and accessories design, film and music industries, with technical and business development skills to enable them become successful in the marketplace

With support from GIZ-EAC’s Incubator for Integration and Development in East Africa (IIDEA), CDEA launched its Creative Economy Incubator in November 2016 will focus on mobility of creatives in the fashion and accessories design, film and music industries from Uganda to participate in incubator activities in Tanzania.

The goal of the IIDEA project was: East African creative entrepreneurs in fashion and design accessories, film and music industries have acquired technical and business knowledge that will make them regionally competitive. 

The IIDEA project  achieved this through training, coaching and mentoring and exposure visits, showcasing and marketing creative products, networking and learning between incubatees and connecting investors and to potential incubatees.

Structure

CDEA’s Creative Economy Incubator is composed of Design Incubation and Audio-visual Incubation programmes. The Design Incubation Programme will support emerging fashion and accessories designers, while the Audio-visual Incubation Programme will support emerging filmmakers and musicians.

CDEA’s Creative Economy Incubator services are:

  1. Technical and business skills development for incubatees
  2. Platforms to market creative enterprises and services
  3. Events and conferences on creative economy issues

The Accelerator Initiative, on the other hand, will focus on brokering linkages to funding and impact investors, providing co-working space, mentor-ship and support and exposure to regional and international creative economy ecosystem.