By Stanislas Diouf
Propelled by the rise of its international stars, the emergence of major artistic production groups, and greater access to content produced on the continent, Africa’s creative industries are experiencing a surge in global interest. Investors are keen to support the budding art, music, and film industries. With good reason: by 2030, Africa is projected to produce up to 10% of global exports of creative goods, valued at around $200 billion (or 4% of Africa’s GDP), and could create more than 20 million work opportunities.
Fittingly, the creative industries made an important first appearance at the Africa CEO Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda in May 2024. “Africa Beyond Borders – Leveraging Africa’s Creative Industries to Unleash Economic Growth” was the title of the strategic roundtable, led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), co-hosts of the Forum. Experts from the film, fashion, animation, and gaming sectors, investors, and key economic players highlighted the progress made in positioning Africa’s creative industries as engines of prosperity.
Marie Lora-Mungai, CEO of the Creative Industries advisory firm Restless Global said capacity building is an important component for the sector: “There is already about 2 billion dollars committed to invest in the creative sector in Africa. This is huge, unprecedented… this is real money. However, the challenge we are facing now is where that money should go.”
Mohamed Gouled, IFC’s Vice President of Industries, reaffirmed IFC’s commitment to becoming a partner of African talent and African arts. “In order to spur economic growth and opportunities we must support the creative industries,” Gouled told ACF. “This sector is vibrant and growing fast and helping it reach its potential is a priority for us.”
Global platforms like Netflix and Spotify are already playing a key role in putting African creativity and content on the radar for investors. Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify’s Managing Director of Sub-Saharan Africa affirmed: “Taking African music to the world is a key focus for us but fundamentally we are also interested in supporting not only the stars but artists who are local heroes. It’s really about contributing to job creation.”
The growth of investment in a sector that was previously confined to artistic expression and cultural advocacy is heartening. In the music industry, the giant Universal Music Group acquired a majority stake in Marvin Global, the iconic music label of singers Rema and Ayra Starr. Recent investments in Africa’s creative industries also extended to the film industry, with Canal+ acquiring a stake in Marodi TV, a major player in Senegalese series production. The French group is already a majority shareholder in production companies such as Rok Studios in Nigeria, Plan A in Côte d’Ivoire, and ZACU Entertainment in Rwanda and intends to continue its expansion in Africa by acquiring Multichoice, the South African television giant.
African financial institutions and the private sector are also betting on the potential of the creative industries. Afreximbank has launched a $1 billion African Film Fund as part of its CANEX (Creative Africa Nexus) program, aiming to develop creative and cultural industries in Africa and the African diaspora through various financing instruments.
Global streaming platforms are enabling creators to sell their products around the world. This is especially evident in Nigeria’s film industry, where Nollywood has emerged as an example of success, largely thanks to streaming platforms.
Nollywood now boasts a substantial audience both domestically and globally, contributing approximately $590 million annually. Despite economic challenges and declining purchasing power in the country, the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria reported that Nigerians still spent N10.5 billion on cinema tickets. This trend has prompted streamers like Netflix to increase their investment in African content. To date, the streaming giant has committed $175 million to Africa, with a particular focus on Nigeria and South Africa.
Access to funding, streaming platforms, and international distribution structures have enabled Nigerian cinema to gain a large audience both on the African continent and internationally. However, a long history of inadequate funding, weak regulations, and infrastructural challenges are still hampering growth in other parts of the continent. A lack and inconsistency of data availability also curb investors’ interest. Furthermore, the African creative industries are still mostly found within the informal sector, where the size and immaturity of companies are often incapable of absorbing investments in debt or capital.
Despite these challenges, the development of a complete industry, with distribution structures, access to funding from both the public and private sectors, and an increase in demand for artistic creations could build an attractive economic model soon.
The creative industries in Africa are set to experience explosive growth over the coming decades. As the well-known saying goes: watch this space!
