The Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) WKND 2026 has officially opened its doors in Lagos, with African leaders emphasizing the critical need for enhanced financing, intellectual property protection, distribution channels, and market access. The goal is to ensure that the African continent retains a significantly larger share of the economic value generated by its booming creative industries.
Opening the four-day summit on behalf of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President H.E. Senator Kashim Shettima asserted that Africa must transition from merely celebrating its cultural heritage to building commercially viable creative enterprises. “In 1977, we came to celebrate our culture. In 2026, we come to capitalise on it. We aim to transform global applause into contracts, admiration into markets, and the talent of our youth into lasting wealth,” Shettima stated. He underscored the necessity of fostering stronger intra-African market access, noting, “We cannot continue to celebrate African creativity while simultaneously making it difficult for African creators to access African markets.”
Afreximbank has pledged a substantial US$2 billion in financing through 2027 to bolster Africa’s creative and cultural sectors, building upon previous commitments in response to growing industry demand. The previous CANEX WKND 2024 in Algiers gathered participants from 81 nations and facilitated over US$540 million in trade and investment agreements. In Nigeria, more than US$600 million is being unlocked for digital and creative ventures under the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.
Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, revealed that proposed transactions exceeding US$500 million are currently under discussion between Nigerian entrepreneurs, buyers, and investors within the deal rooms co-curated with Afreximbank at CANEX. “We promised to bring buyers and investors here. Today, Nigerian creatives are actively negotiating with them right here in Lagos. Our ambition is to secure a deal for every segment of the creative economy, ranging from sports and gaming to creative technology, infrastructure, the arts, and gastronomy,” Dr. Oduwole announced.
To further fortify the commercial landscape for creative businesses, Nigeria has implemented a series of strategic measures. These include the nation’s inaugural National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy, approved in 2025, and the Creative Sector Investment Playbook launched in January 2026 to direct investment toward studios, content production, and distribution. Additionally, Nigeria, alongside Kenya and South Africa, serves as a co-champion for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Digital Trade.
Dr. George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, emphasized that merely increasing production finance is insufficient without concurrently strengthening ownership and value capture across the creative industry supply chain. Citing figures from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. Elombi noted that Africa’s creative economy is valued at approximately US$60 billion, accounting for about 2% of the global creative market. “While we can direct these financing schemes into music and movie productions, the value we derive will remain low unless we focus on building a robust creative ecosystem,” he stated. Dr. Elombi highlighted distribution, branding, marketing platforms, and intellectual property ownership as critical areas where Africa must retain greater value.
CANEX WKND 2026 convenes over 15,000 delegates from governments, financial institutions, investors, creators, and businesses across Africa, the Caribbean, and the global diaspora. The event’s comprehensive programme features the CANEX Deal Room, the Creative Economy Finance Summit, the African Producer Accelerator, CANEX Music Factory, CANEX Book Factory, CANEX CreaThon, and targeted sector programmes spanning film and television, music, fashion, sports, literature and publishing, gastronomy, visual arts, and technology.
