CASE STUDIES FROM AFRICA

Estimated Employment Generated by Cultural Services
In the BBEAC report (2012), after looking closely into how women and men were professionally
engaged in cultural activities, the researchers concluded that men hold over 53% of the jobs in
the sector. Women, with almost 47% of the jobs, are mainly involved in the production of
handicrafts, ceramics, and textiles—the sectors with the lowest incomes. The situation seems
different when only looking at the cultural services.
Table 27: Distribution of Cultural Jobs by Gender
Main Activities
Sex
Male Female
Total %
Clothing manufacture 15,714 11,837 27,551 16.7%
Spinning, weaving, and finishing of textiles 6994 19,127 26,071 15.8%
Manufacture of cork, wooden, and straw articles 9619 15,207 24,826 15.1%
Repair of personal and household articles 9458 1737 11,195 6.8%
Manufacture of ceramic products 754 8507 9261 5.6%
Manufacture of other textile articles 4348 2606 6954 4.2%
Sports, recreation, and play 3220 3333 6553 4.0%
Cinema, radio, and television 5264 - 5264 3.2%
Manufactures, other 3271 745 4016 2.4%
Other 16,310 3249 19,559 11.9%
Total
74,902 66,348
(53%) (47%)
141,250 100.0%
Source: BBEAC (2012).
It is not clear, for example, how much of cultural services is reported in the above table, which
was obtained through a triangulation process of secondary data. In Burkina Faso, 1,595 people
(686 civil servants and 909 persons under contract) were working for the Ministry of Culture,
Tourism and Communication in 2010. 48 Following the recent reorganisation of the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism, this amount declined to 805 persons in 2011 (375 civil servants and 430
persons under contract). All together, 2,043 people were working directly and indirectly as
government officials on the theme of culture and tourism in 2010. 49
Table 28 indicates the total and full-time employment by sector where companies agreed to
participate in our survey. There would be a total of more than 7,500 people working in cultural
services, including almost 27% of full-time employment. Unfortunately some of the main
stakeholders, including RTB, did not agree to answer our questionnaire. The results differ
necessarily largely from those of BBEAC (2012), which counted more than 5,000 people in
cinema, radio, and television only. Therefore, the number of people involved in cultural services
activities could reach 10,000 employees or more. The research also highlights the question of the
sustainability of employment in the cultural services industry in Burkina Faso and the weight of
SMEs in employment. This latter represent more than 40% of employment, showing an active
network of medium enterprises.
48
INSD (2013). Op. cit.
49
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF, 2009). Profil culturel des pays du Sud membre de la
Francophonie. Un apercu de trois pays de l’UEMOA.
249