A NEW dawn may be breaking for Zambia’s content creators as the country inches closer to unlocking the economic potential of social media through monetisation as Zambia’s Ambassador to America Chibamba Kanyama is ready to meet companies such as Meta and YouTube.
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The Zambia Association of Musicians (ZAM) president Brian Bwembya popularly known as B Flow revealed this to Kalemba in an interview.
“We got in touch with Zambia’s ambassador to America Chibamba Kanyama who asked for more information for him to represent us at any of these offices be it Meta offices or YouTube offices and that’s the knowledge part I was talking about earlier,” said B Flow.
“Chibamba Kanyama is keen on representing content creators in Zambia to ensure our information reaches the platforms and their offices so that they can understand what we are trying to achieve as a nation.”
B Flow said his association, spearheading the Monetise Zambia campaign has made major strides in pushing for policies that would allow Zambian content creators to earn from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and others.
The ZAM president disclosed that his association had successfully held consultative meetings with key stakeholders such as the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), the Ministry of Technology and Science and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Art.
He said the meetings were focused on aligning government structures with the dream of making social media monetisation a reality.
“There has been a knowledge gap in Zambia about what it truly takes to monetise social media and so, we have taken it upon ourselves to bridge that gap, one stakeholder at a time,” he stated.
The artiste revealed that the next round of meetings is set to include the Bank of Zambia and the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry with focus on Zambia’s payment systems, especially the inability to receive PayPal payments, a crucial piece in the monetisation puzzle.
Monetisation on platforms like YouTube and Facebook depends not only on user numbers and engagement, but also on a country’s legal and financial infrastructure.
Zambia currently faces hurdles such as lack of tax treaties with the US and limited international payment gateways, leaving local creators unable to fully tap into the earnings many of their counterparts in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa enjoy.
B Flow told Kalemba that The Monetise Zambia campaign is not only about content creators making money but also about creating new streams of employment, boosting the digital economy and giving youths a chance to thrive in a field many are already actively engaged in.
“The numbers are looking good. Zambians are active online. The audiences are there. What’s missing is a clear structure to allow creators to benefit from their own content,” he said.
He assured that government institutions that have already engaged with ZAM have signaled positive interest and promised to support the process moving forward.
If successful, Zambia will join a growing list of African countries whose creators are paid directly by global platforms based on content engagement.
“If Kenya was able to do it, Nigeria and South Africa then Zambia can do it too. We just have to demonstrate what we are doing. Hoping that content creators can also be present when the ideas are being sold to the owners of social media.”
“The stakeholders and government institutions we have engaged so far have promised us progress. Monetisation will really help many prople in this country, especially young people with no jobs…they can create content and run with it,” said B Flow.
As the campaign gathers momentum, hopes are high that soon, every viral video, trending skit, or educational post by a Zambian creator could not only inspire but also earn.
For a country brimming with creativity but facing high youth unemployment, this could be the beginning of something truly transformative.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, June 21, 2025
