Creatives from across the continent are gathering in Lagos, Nigeria, for the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX). This initiative brings together Africa’s creative talent, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders to unlock the economic potential of the continent’s cultural industries.
Dubbed CANEX WKND, the four-day event attracted more than 15,000 registrations from across the global creative community, under the theme “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World.”
Hosted by the Federal Government of Nigeria and organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) through its Creative Africa Nexus programme, the event runs from 5 to 8 November. It aims to transform Africa’s growing cultural influence into sustainable businesses, increased trade, investment, and employment opportunities.
“CANEX was established to offer a comprehensive suite of solutions aimed at developing the capacity of Africa’s creators and enhancing the value retained within the continent, through CANEX finance,” said Dr George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank.
From film and television to music, fashion, publishing, sport, gastronomy, and visual arts, CANEX WKND is positioning the creative economy as an increasingly important contributor to Africa’s economic transformation.
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For a continent with the world’s youngest population, the creative industries offer significant opportunities to harness the talents, innovation, and entrepreneurial ambitions of young people. However, translating this potential into sustainable livelihoods requires more than talent and international recognition. It requires access to finance, skills development, markets, technology, and the commercial infrastructure necessary to build viable businesses.
This is the gap Afreximbank’s CANEX initiative seeks to address.
The bank recognises that financing is not the industry’s only challenge; a holistic approach is needed for the industry to thrive.
“We can put financing skills into music and movie productions, yet the value we derive could still be low. We must, therefore, focus on building the creative ecosystem, focusing not just on idea generation, creation, and production, but particularly on value capture from those activities that we now know attract the greatest value. These include vending and production, and CANEX was created for that purpose,” said Elombi.
He noted that the budget has increased significantly since CANEX started to meet the needs and demands.
“When CANEX began, we had a budget of U. S$500 million for the creative economy. We soon found out that it was too small, so we raised it to U.S. $ 1 billion, and that was also too small. In 2024, we raised it to U.S.$2 billion,” he noted.
One of the key discussions of this event is to encourage creatives and provide a platform for practical discussions on financing creative enterprises, commercialising intellectual property, and strengthening the continent’s position in global creative markets.
“Africa already has its cultural influence; our challenge is to build economic power. Look at Afrobeats, Nollywood, our fashion, literature, and visual arts: our creativity is thriving more than ever before. However, recognition is not the same thing as ownership, and global popularity does not automatically translate into prosperity,” noted legendary Nigerian actor Richard Mofe-Damijo.
Mofe-Damijo emphasised the need for access to better finance, stronger protection for intellectual property, reliable institutions that work, and businesses that can grow beyond success stories.
Financing will also take centre stage at the Creative Economy Finance Summit, presented by Afreximbank in partnership with the Creative Economy Practice at Co-Creation Hub. The summit will bring together financial institutions and investors to examine how creative-economy transactions can be structured, financed and de-risked.
Among many topics, discussions will also explore one of the world’s most compelling topics, artificial intelligence, examining how African creatives can leverage digital technologies to develop products capable of competing internationally.
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On the list of prominent figures from across the continent and diaspora are Nobel Laureate and writer Professor Wole Soyinka, Emmy Award-winning actor Uzo Aduba, filmmaker and actor Funke Akindele, actors Richard Mofe-Damijo and Thuso Mbedu, and former professional footballers Didier Drogba and Jay-Jay Okocha, musicians Davido, Fally Ipupa, Flavour, Libianca and Charlotte Dipanda.
Cultural ministers from across the continent are also in attendance, including from Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, and Rwanda, alongside representatives from the International Finance Corporation and Afreximbank.
Speakers highlighted that strengthening access to financing, protecting intellectual property, and improving distribution channels are essential for African creatives to compete internationally and retain a greater share of the value they generate. For Afreximbank, supporting the creative industries is also part of a wider strategy to diversify African economies, promote intra-African trade, and strengthen the continent’s participation in global markets.