Afreximbank Targets $1bn Pan African Film Fund to Transform Continent’s Creative Industry

*Elombi: Africa must capture more value from its $60bn creative economy 

*Oramah proposes dedicated facility, cooperatives to unlock funding, reduce risks

Sunday Ehigiator

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) yesterday disclosed plan to mobilise up to $1 billion for a Pan-African film fund, as part of efforts to expand financing, strengthen distribution networks and position Africa as a global production hub for creative content.
The Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, who disclosed this while delivering the opening statement at the 2026 Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Summit in Lagos, pointed out that the proposed fund being developed through the bank’s impact investment subsidiary, the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), in partnership with One Street Studios, was expected to finance African content, strengthen distribution networks, develop enabling technologies and build infrastructure for the continent’s film industry.

This comes the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Afreximbank, Dr George Elombi, called for stronger African ownership and value capture across the creative-industry supply chain, warning that increased production financing alone will not deliver optimal economic benefits to the continent. Elombi said Africa must move beyond financing music and movie productions to building a comprehensive creative ecosystem that enables the continent to retain more value from its creative output.

Citing estimates from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), he said Africa’s creative economy was valued at approximately $60 billion, representing about two per cent of the global creative industry.
Equally, former President of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah, stressed that unlocking finance for the creative industry would require a fundamental restructuring of how financial institutions assess and support creative businesses. He argued that the challenge was not necessarily a shortage of capital but the inability of smaller creative entrepreneurs to access available funding because they often lacked the business structures and market evidence required by lenders.

Speaking further, Awani said the bank’s investment strategy was designed to address structural challenges confronting Africa’s creative industries, particularly inadequate financing, weak distribution networks, fragmented markets and poor intellectual property protection.
She stressed that Africa’s challenge was no longer a shortage of creative talent but the absence of the financial and institutional infrastructure required to convert that talent into sustainable businesses and economic prosperity.

According to her, much of the value generated by African music, films, fashion, literature, gastronomy and other creative products continue to be financed, distributed, owned and monetised outside the continent.
“The creative economy is no longer peripheral. It is part of Africa’s development story. It is a trade sector, an investment opportunity, and a strategic asset capable of generating jobs, foreign exchange and global influence at scale,” she said.
Awani disclosed that Afreximbank, through its subsidiary, Creative Africa Investments, had approved six investments in new projects spanning film, television, music and digital content.

On skills development, she disclosed that Afreximbank had trained more than 7,000 aspiring jewellers and craftspeople across Africa and the diaspora through its partnership with Egyptian jeweller, Azza Fahmy, and Trace Academia.
In gastronomy and culinary arts, Awani said the bank had connected more than 30 African and Caribbean food brands to buyers, facilitating approximately $20 million in trade deals and opening new markets across Africa, the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

She also disclosed that the CANEX Book Factory had brought together emerging writers from 16 African and Caribbean countries, culminating in the publication of an anthology titled Instances of Exceptional Moments of Hunger, featuring 19 writers.
Similarly, the CANEX Music Factory had brought together more than 150 musicians in collaborative recording sessions, producing 32 original songs released on global streaming platforms.

Beyond music production, she said Afreximbank was working with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry to establish regional music charts in four African countries, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal, to provide credible, data-driven evidence of artists’ performance and strengthen their ability to attract investment and commercial partnerships.

Awani further disclosed that the bank’s CANEX Skills Development Programme, delivered through CANEX.Africa and the Afreximbank Academy, had attracted 12,000 users, offering online training in music, fashion, film and gastronomy.

In his opening remarks, Elombi said Africa must move beyond financing music and movie productions to building a comprehensive creative ecosystem that enables the continent to retain more value from its creative output.

“We can put these financing schemes into music and movie productions. Yet the value we derive will still be low. We must therefore focus on building the creative ecosystem,” he said.

The Afreximbank president identified distribution, branding, marketing platforms and intellectual property ownership as critical areas requiring greater investment and African participation.

He stressed that strengthening these segments would enable the continent to capture more economic value from its creative products rather than concentrating support solely on production financing.

His position underscores the need for a more integrated approach to developing Africa’s creative economy, with greater attention to the structures that connect creative production to markets, commercial opportunities and long-term returns.

Meanwhile, speaking during a panel session at the summit, Oramah recalled that Afreximbank had committed about $2 billion to financing initiatives during his tenure, adding that smaller filmmakers and music producers had not benefited adequately from such facilities.

He said unlocking financing for the creative industry would require a fundamental restructuring of how financial institutions assess and support creative businesses.

He argued that the challenge was not necessarily the absence of capital but the inability of smaller creative entrepreneurs to access available financing because they often lacked the business structures and market evidence required by lenders.

“I don’t think the issue of access to capital is because there is no capital. It’s all about availability of capital.

“When I was at Afreximbank, we put about $2 billion. And we were willing to put more money. But how many people were able to access it? If we go and look at the distribution of those who have been able to access it, most of the beneficiaries will be those who are doing the infrastructure, the big people,” he said.

Oramah identified the absence of clearly established markets for creative products as one of the major factors discouraging banks from financing the sector.

According to him, financial institutions need assurances that creative products would attract buyers and generate sufficient revenue to repay investments, but many producers concentrate on creating content without adequately developing market strategies.

“The first thing anybody does depends on the market. So, if there is no market, then the supply chain cannot be built to make the banks comfortable to finance it.

“So people come and produce something, but the first thing the banker asks is, who will buy this? They haven’t thought about it. They are creative people, they just want to produce, they want to create,” he said.

To address the challenge, he proposed the establishment of a dedicated Creative Industry Project Preparation Facility to help filmmakers, musicians and other creative entrepreneurs develop bankable projects.

He explained that existing project preparation facilities were available to manufacturers and infrastructure developers but largely excluded creative businesses, whose practitioners often lacked the resources and technical expertise to prepare business plans, conduct market studies and structure financing proposals.

“So there has to be what I call a creative industry project preparation facility. It’s unique.

“Because once you think that way, things will begin to change. Because you create a new group of expertise that will help people prepare for things that will come to the market, and it will help them to lend money, because it makes things easier,” he added.

The former Afreximbank chief also advocated grouping smaller creative businesses into cooperatives to reduce lending risks and make them more attractive to financial institutions.

He explained that pooling creative entrepreneurs would enable lenders and credit insurers to spread risks across a larger group rather than assess each individual business in isolation.

“Why don’t we find a way of grouping the creatives, those small creatives, into cooperatives?

“When you group them into cooperatives, then you are able to diversify the risks. You are able to insure the group, because credit insurance takes the risk of large numbers, whereas bankers take the single risk,” he said.

On distribution, Oramah said Africa must move beyond dependence on foreign platforms and gatekeepers by developing and owning its distribution infrastructure.

He said the objective should be to establish an African-owned distribution network and box-office system that would enable local producers to distribute their films across the continent before pursuing international sales.

He disclosed that about 34 private distribution platforms across Africa had been identified as potentially ready to participate in the process, adding that the intention was to work with existing systems while gradually building an African-owned alternative.

Oramah also stressed the importance of retaining ownership of African intellectual property, warning that the continent must avoid losing valuable creative assets to foreign investors and buyers.

The issue of intellectual property ownership also featured prominently during the discussions, with Hollywood actress, director and producer, Megan Good Majors, urging African creatives to move beyond seeking representation in international productions to securing positions that allow them to control and benefit financially from their work.

She said African and diaspora creatives must become more involved in producing, directing, financing and owning the intellectual property generated from their talents.

“It’s really about coming not just in front of the camera but also behind the camera and being really intentional about producing, about directing, about ownership, about every single way that we can be involved that’s not just the talent that we have that’s facing forward but the talent that’s behind the scenes.

“And so I think that really what’s important is that we begin to take up those positions where you do see more people from across the diaspora directing, producing, putting up funding, making sure that we keep our IP once it moves forward,” she said.

Managing Director of OneStreet Studios and JBL Media, Lavelle LeVette, also called for the development of African-owned distribution systems that would enable filmmakers to reach audiences across the continent without depending entirely on foreign gatekeepers.

She said Africa needed a distribution network that would allow local producers to showcase their films through an indigenous box-office system before pursuing international sales.

“The bottom line is, for the continent, how can we own our own distribution system? So that when someone makes a movie on the continent, we’re not waiting and saying, oh, please pick me and bring my movie to the world. We’ll have our own system, our own box office.

“So we’ll say that we have our own box office. We can show our movies here, and then we do our foreign sales, and we distribute them,” she said.

Earlier, veteran actress, Joke Silva, called for stronger protection of African creative works and greater collaboration among stakeholders to ensure practitioners could earn sustainable livelihoods from their labour.

Using the example of Ghanaian visual artist, El Anatsui, whose works have attracted international exhibitions and significant commercial value, Silva said African creators needed stronger mechanisms to protect their intellectual property and secure the economic benefits of their work.

She also recounted how the National Theatre in Lagos was rescued from deterioration through collaboration among Nigerian banks, arguing that the experience demonstrated what could be achieved when institutions pooled resources to preserve important cultural assets.

“The protection of our work lies with our continent. We cannot blame other countries for using or other continents for using our works anyhow they please. They will protect their own, we must protect our own,” she said.

In a separate address, the Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development of the African Union Commission, Ambassador Amma Twum-Amoah, called on African governments to translate existing cultural policies and continental frameworks into practical investments, institutions and measurable outcomes.