The fourth iteration of the Debut Fund Programme will support 50 emerging creatives to strengthen their businesses, access markets and build sustainable creative enterprises. JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — OCTOBER 2026 — Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), in partnership with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), is getting the fourth iteration of the…
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Ten young creatives participating in the Creative Youth Policy Lab (CYP Lab), a programme delivered in partnership by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) and the British Council, have developed two policy proposals aimed at addressing language recognition and improving working conditions for creative workers in South Africa. Presented to decision-makers…
On stewardship, the creative economy and building what comes next. What does it mean to lead an organisation at a moment when the creative economy itself is changing? For Nizenande Machi, the appointed Chairperson of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), the answer begins with stewardship. A business strategist by profession, Machi brings to the…
Johannesburg, 6 October 2026 – The ideas shaping Africa’s creative economy are moving into the wider creative community this week as Creative Futures Africa: Beyond the Summit brings key conversations and provocations from the 2026 Creative Futures Africa Summit into a public forum. Taking place on Thursday, 8 October at A42 House in Parktown North, Johannesburg at 17h30.…
Johannesburg, – Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) held its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) as a moment of reflection, accountability and renewed momentum, bringing together members, partners, Board members and stakeholders to consider the organisation’s progress during the 2025/26 financial year and the next phase of its work. The meeting told the story of…
Johannesburg, 4 September 2026 Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) and Canva are partnering to strengthen digital capability across South Africa’s creative economy. The partnership gives creative practitioners and organisations practical design resources, training and a stronger path to sustainable business growth. The partnership sits within BASA’s Value Makers campaign, which recognises the contribution creative…
Johannesburg, 28 August 2026 — Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), in partnership with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), is expanding its support for the creative economy with the launch of the BASA Business Accelerator, a four-month programme designed to help established creative businesses move from proven commercial traction towards investment, procurement opportunities and…
How Evidence Is Rewriting South Africa’s Creative Economy I love the South African Cultural Observatory’s (SACO’s) mapping studies. Call me a research nerd, but there is nothing more satisfying than curling up with a good dose of cultural statistics. But SACO isn’t alone. Over the past decade, a growing body of research has been quietly…
The EU’s Article 50 is changing AI and it could affect your work Article 50 of the EU’s AI Act (introduced 2 August 2026) has just changed the trajectory of AI use with immediate compliance measures being announced by global tech platforms that will make it possible to track AI generated content through invisible watermarks.…
CREATIVE FUTURES AFRICA 2026 TO BRING TOGETHER LEADERS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF AFRICA’S CREATIVE ECONOMY Johannesburg, South Africa – 23 July 2026 – The future of Africa’s creative economy will take centre stage in Johannesburg this September as leaders from government, business, finance, technology and the creative industries come together for the second edition of Creative…
The Arts Are Business Strategy Creativity is moving from the edge of the corporate agenda into the systems that shape growth, relevance and long-term value. For too long, the arts have been invited in as the “song and dance” after the serious business is done – useful for entertainment, reputation or a CSI line item,…
Johannesburg, August 2026 — Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), in partnership with Jozi My Jozi, Andani Africa and Creative Capital, convened senior business leaders, government representatives and creative economy stakeholders for a strategic business dinner centred on “The Power of the Arts as a Business Strategy.” Hosted at The Venue at Nine Yards in Rosebank, Johannesburg,…
THE TRAGEDY OF CENSORSHIP Art allows us to engage with truth. It does not prescribe what we should or should not think; rather, it creates and holds a space in which we are confronted with realities and perspectives – often divergent, sometimes conflicting, and frequently ones we might never otherwise allow ourselves to encounter. This…
Why the Arts Can’t Wait for the System to Fix Itself In my work at BASA, I have the privilege of engaging daily with extraordinary arts organisations – institutions that are quietly, consistently transformative in their communities. What is most striking is not only what they achieve, but how they achieve it, often with minimal…
Julia Lemekwane walked into our offices carrying a box in her hands. Inside were copies of her book, Conversations with the Angel Within. Without fanfare, she began handing them out to the BASA team one by one, taking our names as she went, and carefully signing each copy with handwritten messages of affirmation and gratitude. Behind…
Beyond a Logo on a Banner When South Africans think about business and the arts, a predictable image comes to mind: a corporate logo on a theatre programme, a mining house naming rights deal, a bank’s gala dinner sponsorship. But something different is starting to happen – and it’s worth paying attention to. Three recent…
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), in partnership with the British Council South Africa, has announced the launch of the Creative Youth Policy Lab, a 10-week online programme aimed at strengthening structured youth participation in cultural and creative sector policy development. The programme brings together 10 young creatives (ages 20–35) from Gauteng into a targeted…
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) showcases the first cohort of projects funded through its Supporting Grants Programme 2.0, a reimagined funding model designed to catalyse business–arts co-creation through prototype partnerships and innovation-led experimentation. The selected projects reflect BASA’s shift from traditional grantmaking towards catalytic support for small-scale, time-bound initiatives that test bold ideas at…
Lead Like an Artist Why Creativity Matters in an Age of Radical Disruption I was recently asked to speak at a creative and cultural leadership programme for young policy shapers. Preparing for that moment triggered an unexpected realisation. I had never consciously articulated my own leadership journey – or even considered myself a leader. A…
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), in partnership with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), has announced the fourth iteration of the Debut Fund Programme, a national creative entrepreneurship initiative that continues to strengthen its impact within South Africa’s creative economy. Since its inception in 2017, Debut has evolved into one of BASA’s flagship…
When I joined BASA, I often asked a simple question: how many talented creatives never enter the industry, not because they lack ability, but because access to opportunity is uneven? Three years into working on the Debut Fund Programme, that question has become clearer. It is no longer theoretical, but a system reality. What we…
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), in partnership with Amazon South Africa, invites creatives and entrepreneurs to an exclusive online workshop designed to help you take the first step into global e-commerce with confidence. About the Workshop This practical, hands-on session will guide you through everything you need to know to start selling on Amazon…
Programme Overview Business and Arts South Africa’s Debut Fund Programme invites experienced professionals to apply for the role of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Consultant/Organisation to enhance the current curriculum and programme design of the Debut Fund Programme. This is to ensure relevant and sustainability for the Programme’s target demographic: young artists between the ages of…
Innovation is often thwarted by knowledge; an off-the-shelf solution that worked before, and somewhere else – transplanted, grafted or overlaid. When the test fails, the place is blamed, the lack of system, the people, but perhaps it was just a solution for another place, a different era. Perhaps it’s a new era now. Africa is…
South Africa’s creative economy is often underestimated and seen as cultural enrichment only, rather than a serious economic force. Yet the evidence tells a different story. The cultural and creative industries (CCI) already contribute nearly R300 billion to GDP. This represents about 4% of GDP, putting the CCI’s at similar levels to sectors such as…
In a defining moment for South Africa’s cultural and creative industries, the Director-General of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), Dr Cynthia Khumalo, has doubled the financial investment awarded to the Top 10 finalists of the Debut Fund Programme Pitch Den, reinforcing government’s commitment to unlocking opportunity and accelerating sustainable creative enterprises. The announcement…
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) will host the first session of its Masterclass Series, Building the Case: Articulating Value for Business, as part of the broader rollout of the BASA 2.0 evolved strategy, which positions BASA as a systems enabler and ecosystem builder within South Africa’s creative economy. EPISODE 1: BUILDING THE CASE –…
The Debut Fund Programme, an initiative of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) in partnership with Business and Arts South Africa (BASA), hosted the #MyDebutStory Alumni Event on 6 March 2026 at Y Studios in Johannesburg. The event brought together emerging creative entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and sector stakeholders to celebrate the journeys of creatives who…
Job Title: Executive Support to the CEO Reports to: CEO Location: Johannesburg Type: Fixed-term contract (12 months, renewable) About BASA Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) is a leading intermediary organisation at the intersection of business and the arts. We work to strengthen partnerships, unlock investment, and advance the sustainability and impact of the arts…
