Afreximbank to launch $1bn fund in 2024 to support Africa’s filmmakers

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says it is set to launch a $1 billion film fund to support the industry in 2024.

Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s executive vice-president, intra-African trade bank, said this on Friday during the opening of the 2023 Creative Africa nexus (CANEX) summit held as part of the third intra-African trade fair (IATF2023) in Cairo, Egypt.

Speaking at the summit, 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 said during CANEX (weekend) WKND 2022, the bank had increased the financing it was making available to the creative sector from $500 million to $1 billion, adding that the bank currently had a pipeline of over $600 million in film, music, visual arts, fashion, and sports deals.

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

According to Awani,  the film and audiovisual industries in Africa accounted for $5 billion of the continent’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employed an estimated five million people, with the potential to create over 20 million jobs and generate $20 billion in revenues annually.

She said the sector also faces 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,” Awani said.

In the statement, Albert Muchanga, commissioner for trade and industry of the African Union Commission, said 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,” he said.

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

The CANEX programme set up by Afreximbank is to facilitate development and growth, as well as provide a range of financing and non-financing instruments and interventions to support trade and investment in Africa’s creative sector.

IATF2023, Africa’s largest trade and investment fair opened on November 9 and will run till November 15, 2023.