“Given
the interest expressed recently by global companies, and the demands of the
industry, there is good reason to believe that, with the right talent, these
numbers are achievable. In other words, an investment of just a few million dollars
focused on training as well as on showcasing Jamaica's animation industry
globally can be expected to pave the way for the country to absorb tens of
millions of dollars in foreign exchange”
Excerpt from World
Bank's Project Document 'Youth Employment in the Digital and Animation
Industries'
After
the successful JANN (Jamaica Animation Nation Network) at UTECH on Saturday
July 26th 2014 between the hours of 11:00am – 2:30pm at UTECH
(LT10A) as detailed in my blog article
entitled “JANN
to host Intellectual Property Workshop at UTECH – How Independent Animators can
Make money from Animation and thwart Copyright Infringement”, the World
Bank seems to want to throw us a bone.
Or
should that be a Loan of US$20 million,
which the World Bank will be investing over a five years as detailed in “Jamaica
can earn big money from animation”, published Wednesday, July 30, 2014 BY STEVEN JACKSON Business Reporter,
The Jamaica Observer.
In
their recently published project document “Youth Employment in
the Digital and Animation Industries” they've projected the Jamaican
Animation Industry to grow by US$69 million ($7.7 billion) over a five (5) year
period. Hence they've decided to invest, with the money going to train some
15,000 Jamaicans, of which 2,800 are expected to be Animators.
This
would raise the total count from the current 100 Animators on the island over
the next five (5) years, making us more attractive to Local and FDI (Foreign
Direct Investors), with possible benefits for Independent Animators.
World Bank Invests in
Animation – 30 Years to repay at a12% p.a. and 280% Rate of Return
According
to the World Bank, they expect the Jamaican Animation Industry to earn that
projected total of US$69 million over the five years as follows:
1.
Year 1 - US$5.4 million
2.
Year 5 - US$47.8 million
That's
basically US$15 million between Year 2 and Year 4! Granted, this isn't much
when compared to the Call Center Industry who make some US$350 million annually
as pointed out in my blog article
entitled “How
to find work in Jamaica at Call Center - 8000 Jobs coming after US$33 million
Loan from DGB floated for 8 Call Centers”. The World Bank Loan is repayable
over a period of 30 years with an initial non-payment period of five and a half
(5½) years.
This
loan started back in April 2014 around the same time the World Bank's formed a
partnership with the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) aptly dubbed the
US$120-million Country Partnership Strategy (CPS). This US$120 million loan
runs until 2018, and the World Bank's US$20 million five (5) year investment is
a part of that long term strategic push towards the year 2020. That US$20
million loan to develope a US$69 million Jamaican Animation Industry is broken
down as thus:
1.
US$10 million towards Training Animators
at their very own Training School
2.
US$5.6 million to a tech incubator named
Startup Jamaica
3.
US$1.6 million to support venture
capital loans for Animation startups
US$7.2
million is left unaccounted for, suggesting that this may end up being used
over the five (5) year period to expand the Animation Industry, both BPO driven
and Independent Animator. So Animation is finally getting some attention on a
level similar to Call Centers, despite the skepticism of JANN spokesman Kevin
Jackson, quote: “We haven't seen how they calculate the figures and we are not
privy to the document”.
That’s
some pretty confident bet, especially as they claim a loan rate of 12% per
annum on the loan and a rate of return of some 280% on their initial
investment, to quote the World Bank: “Despite these conservative assumptions,
and using a discount rate of 12 percent, the net present value for the
animation component of the project is a staggering $69 million and the Internal
Economic Rate of Return is 280 percent”.
Animation vs Call
Centers – BPO Brother from another Mother with Great Expectations
Although
the intention is to have the Animation Industry structured in a manner similar
to the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), the Call Center Industry is a lot
more advanced. In fact, this year, the Call Center Industry is set to receive
some US$33 million in loans from the DBJ (Development Bank of Jamaica) to build
some 8 Call Centers and employ some 8000 persons.
Thus
loans to the Animation industry to encourage investors to invest in the Jamaica
Animation Industry sound logical. Most likely, just like the Call Center
Industry, it'll be geared not only to the construction of new Animation Studios
but also to the training of Jamaican Animators.
This
is a copy of the strategy being used by the BPIAJ (Business Process Industry
Association of Jamaica) Chairman Yoni Epstein to float a US$900,000 ($100.8
million) Loan from the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) to build a Call
Center Agent Training School in Montego Bay as stated in my blog article entitled
“How
to find work in Jamaica at Call Centers - BPIAJ Call Center Agent Training
School for US$900,000 as Montego Bay Freezone Expands”.
Good
to see the Government of Jamaica via the Ministry of Science, Technology,
Energy and Mining betting on Jamaica's future by creating an army of Animators
to tackle the estimated US$220 billion annual Global Animation Industry.
This
suggests that the other US$100 million may end up being borrowed by the
Ministry of Science, Technology Energy and Mining to support projects other
than Animation, possibly Video Game Design, another Cash Cow that Jamaica's yet
to tap into as pointed out in my blog article entitled
“Netzoo's
2014 Global Games Market Report - Developed World idle time Opportunity for
Jamaicans in Video Gaming Design”.
Stay
tuned as the Jamaican Animation Industry gets ready to fly!
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