The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has pledged stronger financing for Africa’s creative economy, with a focus on strengthening production, distribution, branding and intellectual property ownership.
President and Chairman of Afreximbank, Dr George Elombi, made the commitment during his address at the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) WKND 2026, with theme “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World”, on Thursday in Lagos.
Elombi said African creatives had achieved global recognition through music, films, fashion, literature and visual arts, but the economic value generated by their works remained largely outside the continent.
According to him, Africa’s creative economy is estimated at $60 billion by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, representing only two per cent of the global creative economy.
He said that African creators often generated successful creative products while foreign entities retained ownership of distribution platforms, branding, marketing channels, catalogues and intellectual property rights.
“Our talent is global, our share of the value, unfortunately, is only local,” he said.
Elombi said Afreximbank had increased its financing commitment to the creative industry from $500 million to $1billion and subsequently to $2billion in 2024, following growing demand.
He said the bank was investing in the entire creative ecosystem, including production facilities, distribution platforms, branding, marketing, logistics and intellectual property.
The Afreximbank president said the institution had also established the Pan-African Film Fund for Production and Distribution to strengthen African ownership of creative content and expand its global reach.
He added that through CANEX, the bank was investing in African intellectual property, including films, music catalogues and musical compositions.
Elombi stressed the need for African creatives to protect and register their intellectual property, noting that registered rights could be valued and used to access financing.
“A right that is not on record cannot be financed and the royalty no one can audit cannot be priced,” he said.
He urged governments to increase investment in cultural infrastructure, training, studios and performance venues, warning against cuts to cultural budgets during periods of economic pressure.
African creators often generated successful creative products while foreign entities retained ownership of distribution platforms, branding, marketing channels, catalogues and intellectual property rights.
Meanwhile, Creative Icon, Richard Mofe-Damijo, called for increased investment, stronger intellectual property protection and improved distribution networks to enable African creatives to retain greater economic value from their works.
He said African music, fashion, literature, films and visual arts had influenced the world, but the continent had yet to fully translate the influence into economic prosperity.
According to him, countries such as the U.S., South Korea and India had successfully leveraged their cultural industries to promote their identities, products, tourism and economic interests.
Mofe-Damijo said talent alone was insufficient to sustain creative industries, stressing the need for access to finance, intellectual property protection and reliable distribution networks.
He urged investors to finance creative businesses, policymakers to create enabling conditions for the sector and creatives to protect their works and build strategic partnerships. (NAN)
