Nigeria's Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has urged faster implementation of the African Union's revised plan of action for cultural and creative industries, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
She made the call at a four-day gathering of creatives, investors, policymakers and industry leaders from Africa, the Caribbean and the diaspora, convened for business, collaboration and cultural celebration. The event is organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and hosted by the Federal Government, in partnership with the African Union Commission and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the meeting is designed to link participants across borders and encourage cultural exchange. It brings together key players in the Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) so they can present their work, exchange ideas, form networks and work together.
Why it matters
The push comes as African governments and institutions try to turn the continent's creative output into organised economic activity rather than scattered, informal enterprise. A continental plan of action only carries weight if member states move it from paper into policy, which is the thrust of Musawa's appeal.
The Lagos event also places the creative sector alongside trade and finance, with Afreximbank — a multilateral trade finance institution — as organiser and the AfCFTA Secretariat as a partner. That pairing signals that culture is being treated as a tradable economic sector within the continent's wider trade framework, not merely as heritage.
Delays hit planned audiovisual commission
Amma Twum-Amoah, the African Union Commission's Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, said efforts to set up a continental body to coordinate Africa's film and audiovisual industry are behind schedule.
She attributed the delay to the fact that no AU member state has yet ratified the statute that would establish the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission. Twum-Amoah spoke through Sabelo Lyndon Mbokazi, Officer-in-Charge of Social Development, Culture and Sport, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
Her remarks put a concrete obstacle on the table: the continent's film and audiovisual sector, one of the most visible parts of its creative economy, still lacks the coordinating institution that the AU has designed for it, because the required ratifications have not come through.
A four-day programme of business and culture
The gathering, held under the CANEX banner, runs for four days and mixes commercial deal-making with cultural programming. Its stated aims are to connect people across national boundaries, promote cultural exchange and give creative practitioners a platform to show their work and build partnerships.
Participants span Africa, the Caribbean and the diaspora — a grouping that reflects longstanding cultural and commercial ties across the Atlantic. For investors and policymakers in the room, the event offers a chance to assess creative ventures; for the creatives themselves, it is an opportunity to reach financiers and buyers they might not otherwise meet.
Musawa's call for speed on the AU plan fits the event's framing: the plan of action sets out continental direction, but its value depends on how quickly national governments translate it into programmes, funding and regulation.
What to watch
Whether AU member states move to ratify the statute establishing the African Audiovisual and Cinema Commission will be the clearest signal of how seriously the continental commitments are being followed through.
