This article was produced with the support of Afreximbank
Can you please explain what CANEX is and its place in the wider Afreximbank ecosystem?Â
The Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) is a flagship initiative of Afreximbank, launched in 2019 to accelerate the development and monetisation of Africa’s vibrant creative and cultural industries. It is not a separate subsidiary or a strategic business unit (SBU), but rather a high-impact programme embedded within the Bank’s Creatives and Diaspora Department.
CANEX was purposefully designed to leverage the full power of the Bank’s ecosystem – its financial instruments, strategic partnerships, and institutional influence – to address the unique needs of creative entrepreneurs. Its focus spans fashion, film, music, publishing, visual arts, gastronomy, and even emerging sectors like e-sports and gaming.
The programme is both pan-African and global, reaching across the diaspora under Afreximbank’s broader Global Africa Strategy. Through CANEX, the Bank is not only unlocking economic potential but also repositioning African and diasporic creativity as globally tradable, commercially viable assets.
Why is the creative economy important to Africa and the diaspora?
The creative economy is one of Africa’s most dynamic and inclusive growth frontiers. With an estimated value between $4.2bn and $5bn annually, it serves as a powerful engine for job creation, youth empowerment, gender inclusion, and soft power projection.
However, the sector remains vastly undercapitalised and underserved. That’s where CANEX intervenes – by offering specialised financing, building technical capacity, enhancing market access, and supporting the commercialisation and protection of intellectual property. Our goal is to empower creatives to produce globally competitive content that generates income and preserves cultural identity. For the diaspora, the creative economy is both a connector and a conduit – a bridge to the continent that allows for cultural exchange, investment, and collaboration. CANEX creates the platforms and instruments that enable African culture to move freely across borders and into international markets.
Our doubling of the CANEX budget to $2bn (2024–2027), and the launch of the $1bn Africa Film Fund through our impact investment arm, FEDA, underscores the Bank’s unwavering belief in the creative economy’s transformative potential.
Your areas of focus are varied – literature, music, film, gastronomy, sports, visual arts etc. How did you decide on what to prioritise?
Our approach has always been guided by data and market intelligence. In 2020, we commissioned a value-chain analysis of Africa’s creative economy which identified sectors with high growth potential but critical gaps in financing, skills, infrastructure, and export-readiness. This informed our strategic focus on film, music, fashion, publishing, sports, visual arts, gastronomy and culinary arts.
These sectors were then matched with tailored interventions – such as the Film Financing Development Facility, Music Development Facility, and capacity-building initiatives such as CANEX Music Factory, Script to Screen, Book Factory, and our recently launched fashion initiatives under CANEX Presents Africa.
The diversity of our portfolio reflects not just economic opportunity, but a broader belief in the social, cultural, and soft power of creative expression. We are committed to building globally competitive industries that are deeply rooted in African identity.
At the beginning, CANEX was mostly debt financing but now the business model has expanded to include equity? Why?
Creative enterprises often don’t fit neatly into traditional debt structures due to their non-linear revenue cycles and intangible asset base. Equity financing allows us to be more patient and agile, while also crowding in private capital. The Africa Film Fund is a prime example – structured as a private equity vehicle, it enables us to invest across the audiovisual value chain while supporting infrastructure, studios, content production, and distribution.
This model gives us a more strategic stake in the growth of the businesses we support, allowing us to shape them into scalable, export-ready entities. The creative economy requires more than just funding – it needs partnerships, long-term vision, and shared risk.
What is CANEX doing to support creatives to improve their business practices?
Our mandate goes well beyond funding. We invest heavily in capacity-building, equipping creatives with the tools to professionalise their craft and run sustainable enterprises. Programmes like the CANEX Music Factory, Book Factory, Script to Screen, and CANEX Cookout offer structured learning environments combining creative development with business, legal, and financial training. We also promote trade and visibility through platforms like the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) and CANEX WKND, connecting creatives with buyers, investors, and policy leaders. On the regulatory front, we work closely with government and industry to reform intellectual property (IP) laws and improve ease of doing business for creatives.
There was a music project last year and a book prize too, how were they received?
They were exceptionally well received. The 2024 CANEX Music Factory brought together hundreds of artists, culminating in the release of the One Drum album – a global fusion of sounds featuring African icons and international collaborators like Stephen Marley and Scorpion Kings. Most importantly, the artists retained their rights and earned royalties.
The CANEX Book Factory Prize, awarded to Cassava Republic Press, Nigeria, for publishing Female Fear Factory: Unravelling Patriarchy’s Culture of Violence by South African scholar Pumla Dineo Gqola. Both projects attracted international attention and underscored Africa’s literary and musical excellence.
Looking ahead: The 2025 Book Factory Prize will be awarded at IATF in Algiers. The CANEX Shorts competition is underway, spotlighting emerging filmmakers. A Tranoï partnership will showcase African designers at Tokyo and Paris Fashion Weeks. This September, during CANEX at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Algiers, we will host a creative writing workshop that brings together 20 selected writers from across the continent. This intimate and immersive gathering will foster storytelling, cultural exchange, and skill-building, with the goal of nurturing a new generation of African literary voices.Â
And In a groundbreaking move that merges fashion, commerce, and cultural diplomacy, CANEX Presents Africa will also debut the first-ever CANEX Pop-Up Store at Galeries Lafayette, the iconic Parisian luxury department store, from 19 June to 8 July 2025. Located in the heart of Paris, this curated retail experience will showcase four exceptional African fashion brands: We Are NBO (Kenya); Late For Work (Morocco); WUMAN (Nigeria); and Boyedoe (Ghana).
These designers represent the bold, innovative spirit of African fashion, and their presence in one of the world’s most prestigious shopping destinations marks a significant milestone for African luxury on the global stage.
But the journey doesn’t end there. CANEX Presents Africa has extended its platform to include African gastronomy entrepreneurs, opening up access to new markets in the Africa, United States and Europe. Through strategic partnerships with leading international food trade shows, culinary innovators from across the continent will have the opportunity to showcase their products, tell their stories, and secure distribution opportunities in some of the world’s most dynamic food markets. This initiative not only celebrates Africa’s rich culinary heritage but also recognizes food as a vital part of the continent’s creative and export economy.
CANEX is five years old; though you stepped into this role as director for the creatives and diaspora department in 2024, what can you point to as a key achievement?
From trade facilitation and market access to global collaboration and policy advancement, CANEX continues to build an ecosystem in which African creativity thrives not only as culture but as a tool for advancing the integration of African products into global trade .
What have you learnt about the African creative ecosystem?
Africa’s creatives are some of the most resilient and visionary entrepreneurs on the continent. They are breaking barriers despite structural challenges and have shown unmatched innovation and adaptability. What they need is institutional support: access to capital, robust IP systems, infrastructure, and the right policy frameworks.
The creative economy is not just a sector – it is a symbol of Africa’s future. It reflects who we are, how we tell our stories, and how we build inclusive prosperity. At CANEX, we’re not just funding projects – we’re helping shape a pan-African narrative of possibility.
