Government has challenged Uganda's creative industry to embrace innovation, entrepreneurship, and talent development as key drivers of the country's economic transformation. The call was made during the launch of the Harmony 360 Initiative, a program by Victoria Gospel Academy (VIGA) aimed at equipping creatives with business skills, self-development, and opportunities to contribute to Uganda's journey towards a 500-billion-dollar economy. This year's theme is ‘GO GREEN,' and Winnie Buyinza tells the story

The launch of the Harmony 360 Initiative brought together government officials, Members of Parliament, church leaders, and creatives to discuss how the creative economy can become a stronger pillar of Uganda's economic growth.

The initiative seeks to combine worship, music, culture, innovation, environmental stewardship under the "Go Green" campaign, and entrepreneurship to empower creatives while promoting patriotism and sustainable livelihoods.

The event featured performances by gospel artists, choirs, and solo musicians, showcasing Uganda's rich cultural diversity through songs that promoted faith, national unity, and environmental conservation.

Speaking on behalf of the permanent secretary and secretary to the treasury, Joel Kantu said Uganda's economy has already grown to nearly 70 billion dollars, with the government targeting 500 billion dollars in the coming years.

He noted that achieving this target will require greater investment in innovation, agriculture, industry, and the services sector, where the creative economy plays an increasingly important role.

Joel added that the creative industry is creating thousands of jobs and generating significant income globally, prompting the Ministry of Finance to allocate Shs33 billion in this financial year to support innovation and economic transformation. He also welcomed the new copyright law, saying it will protect creatives and encourage investment in their work.

The Team Leader of Vision for Global Impact Africa, Prince Nicholas Nyombi, said Harmony 360 was established to bridge knowledge gaps affecting creatives, especially within Uganda's more than 70,000 churches, where thousands of talented people minister every week but often lack business skills and opportunities to commercialize their talents.

He said the program will promote self-development, entrepreneurship, savings through SACCOs, digital skills, and talent development to improve livelihoods.

Chairperson of Parliament's Committee on the Creative Industry, Rachel Magoola, applauded the government for assenting to the Copyright Law and called for increased access to finance, digital skills, and quality content production to enable creatives to build sustainable enterprises.

Operation Wealth Creation Liaison Officer Col. Ronald Ruble urged creatives to embrace innovation and ICT, saying government needs reliable data on jobs created by the sector to support wealth creation initiatives across the country.