Legitimacy Value, Power: Creators as The Connective Layer

What the report says

Nile Post has published the first instalment of a planned six-part series by Eugene Kavuma examining Uganda’s creator economy and its growing influence across public and private institutions. The article argues that creators have become a “connective layer” between organizations and the public, carrying attention, trust and cultural meaning in ways that banks, newsrooms, ministries, health campaigns and brands increasingly depend on.

Kavuma compares the rapid rise of creators to the earlier spread of mobile money in Uganda, saying both developed largely from the bottom up before formal institutions fully understood or shaped them. The piece frames creators not as a temporary online trend, but as a form of communications infrastructure whose influence now affects how messages reach audiences and how credibility is built.

The Nile Post article identifies three central questions for the series: legitimacy, value and power. It asks who is trusted to speak when audiences can be built without institutional approval; who benefits financially from creators’ reach and influence; and who controls the environment in which they operate, including governments, platforms, brands and intermediaries.

The article also notes Uganda’s young, mobile-first population and cites 17 million internet subscriptions and 45.7 million phone subscriptions as part of the context for creators’ growing role. Kavuma discloses that he writes from within the media industry, noting Next Media’s investment in creators through the Next Creata programme and creator hubs, while stressing that the terms of this emerging system remain unsettled.