The Heritage ROI: Unlocking South Africa’s creative economy for growth

South Africans celebrate Heritage Day as a moment of pride in our languages, rituals, music, cuisine, and sacred sites. But there is a tougher economic truth we cannot ignore: our arts, heritage, and creative industries remain underperforming assets.

Globally, culture is big business. The creative economy already generates $2.25 trillion annually and accounts for nearly 30 million jobs worldwide, according to Unesco. Yet South Africa’s creative industries contribute just under 3% of GDP—far behind their potential. The question for policymakers, investors, and business leaders this Heritage Day is simple: how do we unlock the value of our cultural wealth and convert it into revenue, jobs, and competitive brand power?

Lessons from Global Case Studies

• South Korea’s K-wave (Hallyu): In the early 2000s, South Korea deliberately invested in its cultural exports—film, TV, K-pop, fashion—as a pillar of economic policy. By 2019, the K-wave was generating $12 billion in export revenue annually and boosting sectors from tourism to cosmetics. The boy band BTS alone added an estimated $5 billion per year to Korea’s economy.
• Nigeria’s Nollywood: Now the second-largest film industry in the world by volume, Nollywood contributes about $7.2 billion annually to Nigeria’s GDP and directly employs over a million people. This happened because government created tax incentives, private investors funded production, and diaspora networks amplified distribution.
• United Kingdom’s heritage sector: Britain’s historic environment directly contributes £36 billion annually to its economy and supports over 500 000 jobs. Heritage is not seen as nostalgia—it is positioned as an investable industry with measurable ROI.

These examples show that when culture is treated as an economic growth sector, not just an identity marker, it delivers exponential returns.

South Africa’s Untapped Potential

• Heritage sites: We host eight Unesco World Heritage Sites, yet they remain under-promoted and under-monetised. The UK’s Stonehenge draws 1.5 million visitors a year. Robben Island, a global icon, attracts barely 300 000. With better visitor infrastructure, marketing, and digital integration, our heritage tourism numbers could easily double.
• Crafts and design: South Africa’s craft industry generates about R2 billion annually, but raw materials are expensive, supply chains fragmented, and export channels limited. With branding and fair-trade certification (like Kenya did for coffee), we could triple export revenues in five years.
• Music and film: Our artists are breaking through globally—from Tyla to Black Coffee—but the local ecosystem captures little value. Proper IP protection, streaming negotiations, and export platforms could double royalty revenues. Film incentives have already attracted Hollywood productions; scaling this could make South Africa the continent’s media hub.

A Heritage, Culture and Creative Industries Pact

The way forward is a three-way pact between government, business, and civic society. This pact must be hard-nosed: structured, measurable, and focused on unlocking value.

       1 Government: Create the Enabling Framework

• Establish a National Culture Council with public–private representation to set strategy and targets.
• Scale the Film and Creative Content Incentive, modelled on Ireland’s and Nigeria’s tax breaks, to attract co-productions.
• Fund infrastructure at heritage sites and outsource visitor management to private operators under performance contracts.
• Streamline visas for cultural tourists and creatives (musicians, filmmakers, curators).
  
  2 Business: Invest Capital and Market Access

• Anchor a Creative Investment Fund with blended finance: government guarantees, private equity, bank loans.
• Retailers and fashion houses integrate local design into supply chains. Telcos and banks sponsor global tours, expos, and fairs.
• Brands embed “Made in Mzansi” creative content into marketing, just as Korean tech firms used K-pop to sell globally.
  
  3 Civic Society: Custodianship and Authenticity

• Community-owned heritage trusts manage museums, markets, and festivals, ensuring local beneficiation.
• Universities and NGOs digitise archives, oral histories, and indigenous knowledge to make them globally accessible.
• Diaspora networks amplify South African cultural exports abroad, opening channels into new markets.

Practical Roadmap to Unlock Value

1. Launch a “Made in Mzansi” global export label for crafts, music, and design—guaranteeing authenticity and fair trade.
2. Double heritage tourism revenue by 2030 through AR/VR tours, global marketing campaigns, and PPP site upgrades.
3. Create 250 000 new jobs in five years in creative SMEs by scaling hubs in townships and rural areas.
4. Increase cultural exports fivefold by 2035, matching South Korea’s trajectory, through incentives, branding, and diaspora distribution.
5. Annual Cultural Economy Report to measure ROI—GDP contribution, job creation, export growth, and heritage visitor numbers.

Unlocking South Africa’s Future

The word is unlock. We are sitting on dormant assets—our languages, crafts, stories, music, and heritage sites. They are not charity projects; they are undervalued industries. With the right pact, we can reposition culture from “best-kept secret” to competitive advantage, delivering billions in revenue, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and a powerful national brand.

This Heritage Day, we should move beyond celebration. We must adopt an investor’s mindset: treat heritage and culture as South Africa’s next growth sector. If South Korea unlocked its economy through music, and Nigeria through film, South Africa can do it through the full spectrum of its heritage. The only question is whether we have the vision—and the will—to sign the pact.

Dr Nik Eberl it the founder & Executive Chair: The Future of Jobs Summit™ (Official T20 Side Event). He is author: Nation of Champions: How South Africa won the World Cup of Destination Branding

*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.

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