Kenyan President Eyes Bigger Film Sector After Visit to Tyler Perry Studios

It only took a quick visit to Tyler Perry Studios this week for Kenya’s president to come away inspired to keep building the African nation’s budding film industry.

William Ruto dropped in on the complex located on the old Fort McPherson grounds Tuesday during a two-day stop in Atlanta before heading to Washington on a state visit.

“It was an eye-opener for me — I mean, that is big, by any account, and it has completely changed my perspective around creative industry,” Mr. Ruto said during a Tuesday evening business forum at the Buckhead Theater.

Along with other sectors from electric mobility and call centers to renewable energy, Kenya is playing up movie production as a means of job creation. Launched last year, the government’s Talanta Hela initiative aims to discover, nurture and compensate young talent in sports and the arts.

Some strides have been made, with the creative sector accounting for about 5 percent of economic activity. That’s already about half of what’s contributed by tourism, a mature sector in a land known for big game safaris, said Meg Whitman, ambassador of the United States to Kenya, who shared the stage with the president.

“With a little bit of focus and making sure that business climate is great for creatives, I think this can be very beneficial for Kenya,” Ms. Whitman said, adding that Atlanta’s emergence as a film hub was inspiring to see firsthand.

Movies, Mr. Ruto said, will not only provide incomes for Kenyans, but it can also help shift narratives.

“Film, as we all know, is the premier media for storytelling. I did not see it in the context in which I saw today in Atlanta. I have invited the mayor of Atlanta to come to Nairobi, and I have invited him to come with some of the best they have.”

Mr. Ruto nodded to Nicky Weinstock, a Los Angeles filmmaker in the audience, whose Invention Studios will make 10 movies in Kenya starting in June.

Kenya lags Nigeria and South Africa in the entertainment space, Ms. Whitman acknowledged, but not for a lack of creativity or dynamism. Kenya, she said, shatters outmoded stereotypes about Africa, which is already home to 1.4 billion people and will be where one out of three working-age people lives by 2050.

“I hope that the narrative on Africa and the narrative on Kenya will catch up to the reality,” said the former CEO of HP and Yahoo.

For his part, Mr. Perry said on social media he regretted being unable to welcome the president personally, though the comedian Steve Harvey was there on his behalf. Kenyan comedian Eddia Butita was also on hand for the visit, discussing with the president the idea of putting a similarly scaled studio in Kenya.

Earlier in the day, the president visited Coca-Cola Co.’s North Avenue headquarters, announcing a $175 million investment by the beverage giant in the country over the next five years. Coke has been present in Kenya for 75 years.