The African Export-Import Bank is aiming to close creative industry transactions worth more than $540m at the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend 2026 in Lagos, according to Punch Newspapers. The bank's president and chairman of the board, Dr George Elombi, announced the target on Thursday at the opening ceremony of the four-day event, which the Federal Government is hosting and Afreximbank is organising.
The gathering runs from November 5 to 8 under the theme "One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World." Elombi said he expects the Lagos edition to outperform earlier editions on deal value, and suggested the city should aim well beyond the stated figure. Punch Newspapers quotes him saying that Lagos "has to be several multiples of 540," adding that the city should set a mark others would struggle to match.
Why it matters
The target reflects a widening push by Africa's multilateral trade finance institutions into cultural industries that have traditionally struggled to attract formal capital. Music, film, fashion and other creative sectors generate global audiences but, in Afreximbank's assessment, capture a small fraction of the money those audiences produce.
According to Punch Newspapers, the bank has steadily raised its creative industry financing commitment, starting at $500m, moving to $1bn, and reaching $2bn in 2024. The stated purpose is to help African creators build scalable businesses, hold on to their intellectual property and keep more of the value their work generates.
Elombi framed the problem in blunt terms at the ceremony, describing a pattern in which African artists produce successful work while others collect the financial reward. He pointed to foreign ownership and control of distribution channels, branding, marketing platforms, intellectual property rights and content catalogues as the main reasons creators on the continent retain so little of what their output earns.
Deal room, pitch sessions and a finance summit
A statement issued by the bank during the event, cited by Punch Newspapers, said the CANEX Deal Room and Creative Pitch Sessions are designed to put entrepreneurs in direct contact with financiers and investors. The sectors in scope include film, television, music, fashion, sport, publishing, gastronomy, visual arts and creative infrastructure.
The statement also described a Creative Economy Finance Summit, arranged with the Creative Economy Practice at Co-Creation Hub, which will look at how creative industry transactions can be structured, financed and made less risky for lenders and investors.
Elombi cited estimates attributed to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa that put the continent's creative economy at roughly $60bn, or about two per cent of the global creative industry. He argued that financing production on its own would not fix the imbalance unless African businesses also take positions in distribution, marketing and other profitable links in the value chain. His prescription, as reported by Punch Newspapers, is to build an ecosystem that goes past concept development and production to what he called value capture.
He also raised two newer pressures on creators. Digital algorithms, he said, increasingly shape which African songs and films reach audiences abroad, while artificial intelligence poses a threat through the unauthorised reproduction of creative work.
Film fund, IP investment and a CreaThon
Beyond lending, Afreximbank has set up a Pan-African Film Fund covering production and distribution, and has put money into recording studios, fashion manufacturing, entertainment venues and other creative infrastructure, according to the report. Through CANEX Creations Inc., the bank has also taken positions in African intellectual property, including film projects and music catalogues.
The programme includes sessions on intellectual property investment, artificial intelligence and digital tools, plus a CANEX CreaThon run with technology company Gebeya and backed by a $50,000 prize pool, the statement said.
Elombi made a case for policy changes as well. He urged African governments to shield cultural budgets when fiscal conditions tighten, warning that cuts could cost jobs and economic opportunities. He also called for intellectual property to be more widely accepted as collateral, pointing to Nigeria's Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act of 2017 as a model. Linking collateral registries to copyright and trademark databases under the African Continental Free Trade Area, he argued, would let creators borrow across borders.
Punch Newspapers quotes his warning that a right which is not on record cannot be financed, and a royalty nobody can audit cannot be priced. He encouraged lenders to consider advances against royalties, and advised creators to register their intellectual property and keep dependable records of what they earn.
Elombi said Afreximbank will measure the Lagos gathering by the contracts signed, studios opened, intellectual property acquired and livelihoods created, and will revisit that scorecard at the Intra-African Trade Fair due in Lagos in 2027. He pledged that the bank would not watch Africa's cultural renaissance from the sidelines but would act as its financier.
The event's jobs ambitions extend beyond the bank. The Guardian Nigeria News reports that Nigeria is targeting two million jobs from the creative economy by 2030, a goal that gives the Lagos deal-making added weight.
Watch for the transaction figures Afreximbank releases after the weekend closes on November 8, and whether the announced deals translate into signed contracts by the time the 2027 trade fair convenes.
