African leaders opened the four-day Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) WKND 2026 in Lagos, Nigeria, calling for stronger financing, intellectual property protection, distribution and market access so the continent keeps more of the economic value its creative industries generate.
Vice President urges commercial focus#
Opening the gathering on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s Vice President, H.E. Senator Kashim Shettima, said Africa must move beyond global recognition of its culture and towards building commercially competitive creative businesses. “In 1977, we came to celebrate our culture. In 2026, we come to capitalise on it. We come to turn the world’s applause into contracts, its admiration into markets, and the talent of our young people into enduring wealth,” he said.
He also called for stronger intra-African market access for creative businesses. “We cannot continue to celebrate African creativity while making it difficult for African creators to access African markets,” he said.
Afreximbank and earlier financing#
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra- and extra-African trade, has committed US$2 billion through 2027 to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries. The commitment builds on earlier financing as demand across the sector has grown.
The previous edition, CANEX WKND 2024, was held in Algiers, Algeria. It brought together participants from 81 countries and facilitated more than US$540 million in trade and investment deals.
In Nigeria, more than US$600 million in financing is being unlocked for digital and creative enterprises through the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises programme, known as iDICE.
Deal talks and policy measures#
Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, said proposed transactions worth more than US$500 million were already being discussed between Nigerian entrepreneurs, buyers and investors. The talks are taking place in deal rooms co-curated with Afreximbank during CANEX.
“We promised to bring buyers and investors here. Today, Nigerian creatives are negotiating with them in Lagos. Our ambition is a deal for every part of the creative economy, from sports and gaming to creative technology and infrastructure, the arts and gastronomy,” Dr Oduwole said.
Nigeria has also introduced measures aimed at strengthening the commercial environment for creative businesses, including:
- The country’s first National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy, approved in 2025
- The Creative Sector Investment Playbook, launched in January 2026 to guide investment into studios, content production and distribution
Nigeria, alongside Kenya and South Africa, is also a co-champion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Digital Trade.
Value capture beyond production finance#
Dr George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, said increasing production finance alone would not be sufficient unless Africa also strengthens ownership and value capture across the creative-industry supply chain.
Citing estimates from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Dr Elombi said Africa’s creative economy is valued at approximately US$60 billion, or around 2% of the global creative industry. “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.
Dr Elombi identified distribution, branding, marketing platforms and intellectual property ownership as areas where greater value needs to be retained on the continent.
Scale and programme#
CANEX WKND 2026 brings together over 15,000 delegates from governments, investors, financial institutions, creators and businesses across Africa, the Caribbean and the wider diaspora. The programme includes:
- CANEX Music Factory
- CANEX Deal Room
- Creative Economy Finance Summit
- African Producer Accelerator
- CANEX Book Factory
- CANEX CreaThon
- Sector programmes spanning film and television, music, fashion, sport, literature and publishing, gastronomy, visual arts and technology
