Pan African bank, Afreximbank, is mulling a US$1bn fund to finance film production as it accelerates the growth of the continent’s creative sector.
According to UNESCO, the film, and audiovisual industries in Africa employ 5m on the continent.
But the continent’s creative industry has been choked by underfunding and has seen creative entrepreneurs and cultural institutions struggle to secure financial support for their projects and ventures, according to Kanayo Awani, executive vice president, Intra-African Trade Bank (Afreximbank).
“…the bank [Afreximbank] is also working on the establishment of a US$1bn African Film Fund to be launched in 2024. The Fund will oversee film financing, co-finance with large studios, finance African filmmakers, finance producers, and directors of projects,” Awani said.
The bank has been supporting the creative sector with the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme.
At the CANEX WKND 2022, Afreximbank doubled the financing available to the creative sector to US$1bn.
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The bank has a pipeline of over US$600m in film, music, visual arts, fashion, and sports deals, which range from tickets such as US$2m to transactions well over US$150m, Awani said.
Through its unit, the Fund for Africa Development, Afreximbank will next year launch CANEX Creations Incorporated to acquire, aggregate, and commercialise creative content and intellectual property.
“The company will be making critical strategic investments across the creative value chain such as record labels, publishing companies, and film studios, to commercialise the intellectual property of African and Diaspora creatives,” Awani said.
According to UNESCO, the film, and audiovisual industries in Africa account for US$5bn of the GDP. It has the potential to grow that to US$20bn in revenues annually.