Afreximbank to set up $1 Billion film fund to support the African cinema industry

[get these nets]

​

Afreximbank announces $1-billion African Film Fund​

11/10/2023





Cairo, 10 November 2023: The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is working on the establishment of a $1-billion African Film Fund to be launched in 2024 to support the continent’s film industry, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, at Afreximbank, announced in Cairo today.


Addressing the opening of the 2023 CANEX Summit held as part of the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023), Mrs. Awani said that the fund would oversee film financing, co-finance with large studios, finance African filmmakers and finance producers and directors of film projects across the continent.


She noted that during CANEX WKND 2022, the Bank had increased the financing it was making available to the creative sector from US$500 million to US$1 billion and that the Bank currently had a pipeline of over US$600 million in film, music, visual arts, fashion, and sports deal.


“The very first film we financed recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival,” Mrs. Awani said, adding, “The Bank has several in the pipeline from Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, which should be on streaming platforms in 2024.”


Acknowledging that the film and audiovisual industries in Africa accounted for US$5 billion of the continent’s GDP and employed an estimated five million people, with the potential to create over 20 million jobs and generate US$20 billion in revenues annually, Mrs. Awani noted that the sector faced several challenges, including limited access to financing and copyright infringement due to weak copyright laws, enforcement mechanisms and a lack of awareness.


The sector was also confronted with infrastructure and technology gaps, lack of capacity and shortage of skilled professionals and limited market access and international exposure, as a result of which African creative and cultural products often struggle to gain exposure and access to international markets.


Earlier, Boris Kodjoe, a celebrity actor of Ghanaian descent, highlighted how the creativity of Africans had influenced various aspects of modern life, including music, fashion, art, design, social consciousness, business, sports, film and TV. He said that the exploitation of black creativity by the West had had lasting effects and that, despite admiration of black excellence, Africa still faced branding challenges due to external perception fuelled by the traditional media’s depiction of poverty, famine, civil wars and migration on the continent.


Mr. Kodjoe said that the world craved culturally specific global content and that Africa was a key player in meeting that demand. With the continent’s young population and high connectivity, studios, networks, promoters and brands were investing in solutions to reach diverse audiences. Films and TV shows with diversity performed better than others by 30 per cent and Afrobeats was taking over global airwaves. By 2030, Africa was projected to produce up to 10 per cent of global creative goods export worth roughly $200 billion or four per cent of Africa’s GDP.


Also speaking, H.E. Albert M. Muchanga, Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, said that the creative sector in Africa was rapidly growing and making a significant contribution to the inclusive growth and sustainable development of African economies.


“I reaffirm my belief that the African creative industry has huge potential to be a source of employment and revenue to create the Africa we want – revenue from intra-African trade as well as revenue from the rest of the world.”


Ambassador Muchanga urged African nations to convert their vast potential into plans and projects that yield tangible results, stressing the need to also invest in protecting international property rights.


CANEX is an Afreximbank initiative to support Africa and the African Diaspora’s creative and cultural industries by providing financing and non-financing instruments to boost growth. The seven-day CANEX Summit is intended to further develop conversations and provide additional business-to-business and business-to-government opportunities. It includes a fashion show featuring a range of bold and exciting designs from across Africa and the Diaspora and a CANEX Music Factory, hosted by renowned South African producer Oskido, which will provide songwriters and beat makers with the opportunity to record their work.


Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme set up by Afreximbank seeks to facilitate the development and growth of the creative and cultural industries in Africa and the diaspora. The programme provides a range of financing and non-financing instruments and interventions aimed at supporting trade and investment in Africa’s creative sector

 

[get these nets]

June 2024

 

[get these nets]

Lead single

Spoiler: lead single

Afreximbank, having recognised the relevance and opportunities provided by the creative economy as a key driver for development and job creation, established the Creative Africa Nexus programme (CANEX)

to support the development of Africa’s Creative and Cultural Industries and address some of the challenges faced by this economy, through the provision of access to finance, capacity building, trade, investment and export promotion, access to new market opportunities, digital solutions, and policy advocacy to fast-track the scaling of Africa’s creative sectors within the global economy.

The “One Drum” EP is a masterpiece of global musical collaboration, celebrating the vibrancy, resilience, and diversity of African music while embracing global influences.

 

[get these nets]

Afreximbank Unveils Instances of Exceptional Moments of Hunger: A Powerful New Anthology Showcasing Africa and the Caribbean’s Next Generation of Writers​

04/27/2026

Cairo, Egypt – 27 April 2026 –African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) today announced the publication of Instances of Exceptional Moments of Hunger, a compelling new anthology of short stories emerging from the 2024 CANEX Creative Writing Workshop, an initiative under its Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, designed to discover, develop, and elevate bold new literary voices from Africa and the Caribbean.


Bringing together nineteen exceptional writers from Global Africa, representing sixteen countries, the anthology is a rich tapestry of contemporary storytelling, spanning geographies, languages, and lived experiences. Originally developed through an intensive and highly selective workshop process, the stories have been carefully curated and, in some cases, translated from Arabic, French, and Portuguese into English, expanding their reach to a wider global readership.


Published in collaboration with Narrative Landscape Press, an independent African publisher based in Nairobi and Lagos, Instances of Exceptional Moments of Hunger explores themes of identity, resilience, longing, and transformation—offering readers a rare glimpse into the emotional and cultural landscapes shaping a new generation of literary talent.


Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development commented: “This anthology represents far more than a compilation of stories—it is a strategic investment in Africa’s creative future. Through initiatives such as the CANEX Creative Writing Workshop, Afreximbank is not only nurturing talent but also building a pipeline of globally competitive intellectual property capable of crossing borders and formats – from literature to potentially film and TV – while further strengthening the African narrative.”


Dr. Eghosa Imasuen, publisher, Narrative Landscape Press added: “When we gathered in Aburi, Ghana, in August 2024 for the inaugural CANEX Book Factory Creative Writing Workshop, we had a clear purpose: to give emerging prose writers from the continent and the diaspora a protected space for craft, discipline, and growth. These writers are announcing themselves and we know that readers will find in this anthology, their arrival.”


Beyond its literary significance, the anthology represents an important milestone in Afreximbank’s efforts to position African storytelling within the global creative economy. As copyright holder, CANEX Creations Inc. (CCInc), the intellectual property investment subsidiary backed by Afreximbank’s equity impact subsidiary, the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), will support the anthology’s commercialization and visibility, while exploring opportunities to extend select works into films, television series, and other formats.


Further underscoring the quality and ambition of the anthology, the African works within the collection have been submitted for consideration for the Caine Prize for African Writing, widely regarded as one of the most prestigious honors in African literature.


The CANEX Creative Writing Workshop forms part of Afreximbank’s broader Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, which seeks to catalyze the growth of the continent’s creative industries as a driver of economic development, job creation, and export diversification. With this publication, Afreximbank through its CANEX Programme continues to demonstrate its commitment to empowering emerging talent, unlocking new markets, and amplifying African voices on the global stage.


Instances of Exceptional Moments of Hunger is available now on Amazon in paperback. and through Narrative Landscape Press.


Ends