The African Export-Import Bank is targeting creative industry deals worth more than $540 million at the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend 2026 in Lagos, as it seeks to expand financing for African music, film, fashion, publishing, sport, gastronomy, visual arts, and creative infrastructure. Afreximbank President George Elombi said Lagos should aim to exceed that figure by “several multiples,” positioning the city as a benchmark for future creative-economy investment across the continent.
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The four-day event, hosted by the Federal Government and organised by Afreximbank, runs from November 5 to 8 under the theme “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World.” Its central goal is not only to celebrate African creativity but to ensure that creators and creative businesses capture more of the financial value generated by their work.
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Why the $540 Million Target Matters
The CANEX Deal Room and Creative Pitch Sessions are designed to connect African entrepreneurs directly with financiers and investors. The programme covers film, television, music, fashion, sport, publishing, gastronomy, visual arts, and creative infrastructure, giving creators a platform to present business ideas and secure funding.
The $540 million target is significant because it moves the conversation beyond talent and recognition. African artists, filmmakers, designers, and performers have gained global visibility, but Afreximbank argues that they still receive a disproportionately small share of the financial returns.
Elombi put the problem bluntly: “So too often, the African creators make the hits, and someone else makes the money.”
That statement captures the core challenge facing the continent’s creative economy. African music, film, fashion, and cultural content are increasingly consumed worldwide, yet much of the profit is captured through foreign-owned distribution networks, marketing platforms, intellectual property rights, and content catalogues.
Africa’s Creative Economy Is Underperforming
Elombi cited estimates attributed to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, valuing Africa’s creative economy at about $60 billion. He said that represents only two per cent of the global creative industry.
For a continent with a young population, rich cultural traditions, and growing global influence in music, film, and fashion, that figure highlights a major missed opportunity. African creators are producing content with international appeal, but the systems that turn cultural influence into sustainable wealth remain weak or largely controlled from outside the continent.
The bank’s response is to focus on value capture. Elombi argued that financing production alone is not enough if African businesses do not also control distribution, marketing, intellectual property, and other profitable parts of the creative value chain.
“Our talent is global, but our share of the value is not,” he said.
Afreximbank’s Expanding Commitment
Afreximbank has steadily increased its financing commitment to the creative sector. It began with an initial $500 million commitment, later raised it to $1 billion, and increased the figure to $2 billion in 2024.
The bank says the expansion is intended to help African creators build scalable businesses, strengthen intellectual property ownership, and retain more economic value. That approach treats creativity not merely as art but as an industry capable of generating jobs, exports, investment, and long-term wealth.
Afreximbank has also established a Pan-African Film Fund to support production and distribution. In addition, it has invested in recording studios, fashion manufacturing, entertainment venues, and broader creative infrastructure.
Through CANEX Creations Inc., the bank has invested in African intellectual property, including film projects and music catalogues. That is an important shift because ownership of intellectual property often determines who earns royalties, licensing fees, and long-term returns from creative work.
Technology: Opportunity and Threat
Elombi warned that digital algorithms increasingly determine which African songs and films reach international audiences. That creates a risk that African creators may depend on platforms and recommendation systems they do not control.
He also raised concerns about artificial intelligence, saying it threatens creators through the unauthorised reproduction of their works. As AI tools become more capable of generating music, images, scripts, and video, questions around copyright, consent, and compensation will become more urgent.
The CANEX programme will address these issues through discussions on intellectual property investment, artificial intelligence, and digital tools. It will also feature a CANEX CreaThon organised with technology company Gebeya and supported by a $50,000 prize pool.
One of the most practical proposals from the event is the use of intellectual property as collateral. Elombi urged financial institutions to consider lending against royalties, while advising creators to register their intellectual property and maintain reliable earnings records.
“The right that is not on record cannot be financed. And the royalty no one can audit cannot be priced,” he warned.
That idea could be transformative for African creators. Many musicians, filmmakers, publishers, and designers struggle to access loans because they lack traditional collateral such as land or buildings. If copyright, trademarks, and royalty streams can be recognised as assets, creators may be able to raise capital based on the value of their work.
Elombi cited Nigeria’s Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act of 2017 and called for collateral registries to be linked with copyright and trademark databases under the African Continental Free Trade Area. He argued that such integration would allow creators to access financing across national borders.
Elombi also urged African governments to protect cultural budgets during periods of fiscal pressure. He warned that cutting funding for the creative sector could undermine employment creation and economic opportunities.
That appeal is timely because creative industries often suffer when governments face budget constraints. Yet the sector can generate jobs for young people, support tourism, strengthen national identity, and earn foreign exchange through exports and international licensing.
The CANEX event is also intended to build momentum ahead of the Intra-African Trade Fair scheduled for Lagos in 2027. Elombi said Afreximbank would assess the contracts signed, studios established, intellectual property acquired, and livelihoods created through the current gathering.
Afreximbank’s pledge is ambitious: “Afreximbank will not stand as a spectator at Africa’s cultural renaissance. Afreximbank will be the banker of Africa’s creative industry.”
The real test will be whether the $540 million target leads to lasting structures—owned distribution channels, protected intellectual property, accessible finance, and creative businesses that can grow beyond one-off projects.
If successful, Lagos CANEX could help shift Africa’s creative economy from a model in which African talent produces global hits but foreign platforms capture the profits, to one in which African creators own more of the value they create.
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