The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is targeting creative industry deals worth more than $540 million at the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX) 2026 in Lagos as part of efforts to increase investment in Africa’s music, film, fashion and other creative sectors.
The bank’s President and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr George Elombi, disclosed this on Thursday during the opening ceremony of the four-day event. He expressed confidence that the value of transactions recorded in Lagos would significantly exceed the figures achieved at the previous edition.
Referring to the $540 million benchmark, Elombi said Lagos was expected to set a much higher record.
“Lagos has to be several multiples of 540. So let Lagos set the mark, and I’m sure that mark will be hard to catch up elsewhere,” he said. The event, hosted by the Federal Government and organised by Afreximbank, runs from November 5 to 8 under the theme, One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World.
According to a statement released by the bank, the CANEX Deal Room and Creative Pitch Sessions will connect African entrepreneurs with investors and financial institutions interested in opportunities across film, television, music, fashion, sports, publishing, gastronomy, visual arts and creative infrastructure.
The programme will also feature the Creative Economy Finance Summit, organised in partnership with the Creative Economy Practice at Co-Creation Hub. The summit will focus on ways to structure creative industry transactions, attract financing and reduce investment risks. Speaking at the event, Elombi said the initiative was designed to address a situation where African creatives gained international recognition but often received only a small share of the financial benefits generated by their work.
Citing estimates attributed to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, he valued the continent’s creative economy at approximately $60 billion, representing just two per cent of the global creative industry. “So too often, the African creators make the hits, and someone else makes the money,” he said. He identified foreign control of distribution networks, marketing platforms, branding, intellectual property rights and content catalogues as some of the major challenges preventing African creators from earning more from their work.
“Our talent is global, but our share of the value is not,” he added.
The Afreximbank president also raised concerns about the growing influence of digital algorithms in determining which African music and films reach international audiences. He warned that artificial intelligence could further expose creators to the unauthorised reproduction of their intellectual property.
According to him, providing funding for production alone would not solve the problem unless African businesses also developed control over distribution, marketing and other profitable areas of the creative value chain. He stressed the need to build a complete creative ecosystem that allows African businesses to generate ideas, produce content and retain more of the revenue generated from their work.
Elombi further disclosed that Afreximbank had increased its financial commitment to the creative industry over the years, moving from an initial $500 million to $1 billion before raising it to $2 billion in 2024.
The bank has also established a Pan-African Film Fund to support film production and distribution, alongside investments in recording studios, fashion manufacturing facilities, entertainment venues and other creative infrastructure. Through its CANEX Creations Inc. initiative, Afreximbank has also invested in African intellectual property, including film projects and music catalogues.
