Serious about unlocking capital for all sectors of society, the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) has said that it wants to see more businesses from the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) becoming listed on its platform.

Group business development manager at the JSE Andre Gooden in an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Monday said the launch of a recent programme on its Caribbean Business Exchange (CBX) channel will help to push momentum in this regard.

CBX, a 24-hour TV channel launched in August was developed by the JSE as another medium through which it could offer more in-depth, market-relevant information, analysis, and entertainment features with content appealing to a wide global audience.

“The programme that was just started on Sunday, [November 6] is called the Business of Entertainment, which is hosted by Donovan “JR” Watkis. It shares stories on the business side of the creative industries as our initiative through CBX is to bring attention to investors on the potential of the creative industries and also to sensitise people in the industry about the importance of not just talent, but how to manage the administrative and business side of that talent.

“With this new programme we are, therefore, preparing the landscape for more investment in this area,” he told the Business Observer.

CCIs, which have long been regarded as huge drivers of growth, for the most part, largely remain underdeveloped and underfunded as majority of operators in the sector continue to conduct their affairs without structure or having the proper financial and governance frameworks in place. This is one of the maladies that the JSE, through its broad appeal, said it is trying to address.

“The stock exchange, through its e-campus, offers courses in corporate governance and financial literacy which can help to build the capacity of these companies,” Gooden noted.

With just a few of these companies now listed among its over 100 securities, including Main Event, Limner and Bards (The Lab), Pulse, iCreate, and a few others, Gooden said the JSE acting as facilitator, through its latest efforts, is seeking to lay the groundwork to advance greater take-up from CCIs.

“We’re currently in a public-private partnership which is focused on building out capacity for the existing players in the market, even as we ensure that the new ones come in with the expertise required, not just to list but to keep momentum and to maintain proper structures that will enable their medium to long-term success.

“What will also be good is if Government could offer more incentives to the creative industry, which will propel more people to get serious about formalising their businesses and to see the benefit of long-term capital,” he said, noting that currently there are just too many entities out there having entertainment, travel, and tourism events that are not registered or operating around informal structures.

For Tyrone Wilson, chief executive officer (CEO) of iCreate Limited, the biggest benefit of listing his company on the JSE was to not only get the requisite capital needed for expansion but to also get the chance to invite the regular citizen to buy into the vision of a creative entity.

Listed since 2019, iCreate is a creative institute that was developed with the aim of filling the gap in skills training and development for creatives across the Caribbean and in North America.

Wilson said, with CCIs often not treated with the same respect as other sectors, being on the stock exchange with a creative company helps to add more credibility and gives greater insight into the sector’s contributions to the economy.

“It also makes it [easier] for investors to dig into the operations of creatives as they are provided an opportunity to access useful information which can help them to better understand these businesses,” he said to the Business Observer.