Written by Ehi Braimah
Cultural celebrations are valuable, but their legacies should extend beyond performances, exhibitions and commemorative ceremonies. They should inspire institutions, businesses and policies that enable creative professionals to build enduring careers.
Each time I discuss Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage with friends and colleagues, it evokes feelings of a broad, colourful canvas of costumes, music, dances, and the visual arts, not to mention our foods and drinks.
When we extend the conversation to the rest of Africa, the world usually listens to our stories. Nigerian musicians are taking Afrobeats to international audiences; Nollywood productions are travelling across borders; African fashion designers are attracting global attention, and writers are challenging conventional narratives about the continent.
These creative endeavours do more than entertain. They influence perceptions, shape identities and create economic opportunities.
This is why the forthcoming Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX WKND) is particularly significant. Scheduled for November 5–8, 2026, at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in Lagos, the event will bring together creative professionals, investors, financiers, policymakers and business leaders from Africa and the diaspora.
Organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria, the African Union Commission and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, CANEX WKND aims to connect African creative talent with investment, markets and commercial opportunities.
Its theme, “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World: From FESTAC ’77 to CANEX ’27,” captures the relationship between cultural identity and economic ambition.
The event should be understood as more than a colourful gathering of artistes, performers and entrepreneurs. It presents an opportunity to rethink how Africa organises, finances and commercialises its creative industries.
Culture as an economic asset
For too long, discussions about Africa’s cultural heritage have concentrated on its historical and social significance. Those dimensions remain important, but culture also possesses considerable economic value. Music, film, fashion, publishing, visual arts, design, gastronomy and sport can generate income, create jobs, attract tourism and expand exports.
The global visibility of Afrobeats and Nollywood illustrates the possibilities. Nigerian music has developed international audiences, while the country’s film industry has established a distinctive presence in global entertainment. African fashion, cuisine and literature are also contributing to the continent’s growing cultural influence.
However, international popularity does not automatically translate into commensurate economic returns for creators and their home countries. For example, a song can become a global sensation without its creators possessing the commercial infrastructure required to maximise royalties.
The challenge, therefore, is to move from visibility to value creation. Africa needs to develop creative businesses that can produce consistently, compete internationally, protect their intellectual property and retain a greater share of the revenue generated by their work. This requires a combination of investment, professional management, appropriate regulation, reliable infrastructure and access to markets.
CANEX WKND offers a platform for bringing these elements together.
Financing talent and viable businesses
One of the most important barriers confronting African creative entrepreneurs is access to finance. Conventional lenders may consider creative businesses too risky because their assets are often intangible, revenues can be unpredictable and intellectual property is not always easy to value or use as collateral.
This financing gap prevents many businesses from expanding beyond small-scale operations. The CANEX Finance Summit and Deal Room provide opportunities for eligible creative businesses to present commercially viable projects to financiers and investors. For the Lagos edition, the priority should be to convert networking into transactions.
Investors need credible projects, transparent financial information and confidence that contractual obligations will be honoured. Entrepreneurs, in turn, need fair financing terms, mentorship and access to the expertise required to manage growth.
Not every creative idea will become a viable business, and not every project will attract investment. The objective should be to build a system in which promising enterprises can be assessed fairly and supported according to their commercial potential.
Governments and development finance institutions should also explore financing models suited to the creative sector, including guarantees, equity investment, revenue-based financing and facilities that recognise intellectual property as a potential source of economic value without abandoning sound commercial discipline.
Africa’s creative ambitions also depend on effective intellectual property protection. A creator’s work is an economic asset. Copyright, trademarks, licensing agreements and other legal protections help determine who can use that work, under what conditions and who receives payment.
When these arrangements are weak or poorly enforced, creators risk losing income even when their work achieves widespread recognition.
Digital technology has expanded opportunities for African content to reach global audiences. Streaming services, social media, online publishing and digital marketplaces have reduced some traditional barriers to distribution. But they have also made it more important to understand licensing, royalties, digital rights management and the commercial terms governing the use of creative content.
While African governments need to strengthen the institutions responsible for protecting intellectual property, there is also a need for stronger commercial literacy. Talent alone is not enough. Creators must understand contracts, negotiate distribution agreements, maintain records of ownership and distinguish between immediate exposure and long-term commercial value.
Africa should not be satisfied with exporting creativity while surrendering control over the assets that make it valuable.
Technology and the next generation
Technology is reshaping the creative economy. Artificial intelligence, digital production tools, online distribution and new payment systems are changing how content is created, marketed, distributed and monetised.
For Africa’s young creative professionals, these developments offer opportunities to reach global audiences without necessarily depending on traditional gatekeepers. However, they also introduce questions about copyright, consent, fair remuneration, data ownership and the use of creative material to train artificial intelligence systems.
African policymakers and industry leaders should ensure that innovation does not undermine the rights of the people whose creativity gives these technologies value.
Investment in skills is equally important. Training in production, design, digital marketing, business management, financial literacy and intellectual property can help transform informal creative activity into sustainable enterprise. Access to affordable broadband, reliable electricity, appropriate workspaces and production facilities remains essential.
It must be noted that Nigeria’s ministers, Jumoke Oduwole (Investment, Trade and Industry), and Hannatu Musawa (Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy) have been strong advocates for a creative economy that is treated as a serious contributor to our economic diversification.
AfCFTA and the opportunity of a continental market
Another reason CANEX WKND matters is its relationship with the African Continental Free Trade Area. Africa’s creative entrepreneurs need access to markets beyond their national borders. The AfCFTA provides a framework for expanding intra-African trade, including trade in services. However, the existence of a continental trade agreement does not automatically eliminate practical barriers.
Differences in regulations, payment systems, customs procedures, professional standards, distribution infrastructure and consumer markets can still complicate cross-border business. Language differences also require attention, particularly when creative products move between Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone and Arabic-speaking markets.
CANEX WKND can help bridge these gaps by bringing businesses together, encouraging partnerships and identifying practical obstacles that policymakers need to address. The objective should be to create a more integrated African marketplace in which talent, capital, services and creative products can move more efficiently.
Such a market would also strengthen the continent’s negotiating position with international distributors, technology platforms and investors.
Braimah is a PR specialist, marketing strategist, and publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times (www.ntm.ng) and Lagos Post (www.lagospost.ng). He is also a strong advocate of African prosperity and can be reached at ehi.braimah@neomedia.com.ng