Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, at Afreximbank
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is working on the establishment of a $1-billion African Film Fund to be launched in 2024 to support the continent’s film industry, Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade Bank, at Afreximbank, announced in Cairo.
Addressing the opening of the 2023 CANEX Summit held as part of the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023), she 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 noted that during CANEX WKND 2022, the Bank had increased the financing it was making available to the creative sector from $500 million to $1 billion and that the Bank currently had a pipeline of over US$600 million in film, music, visual arts, fashion, and sports deal.
“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,” Mrs. Awani said.
According to her, the film and audiovisual industries in Africa accounted for $5 billion of the continent’s GDP and employed an estimated five million people, with the potential to create over 20 million jobs and generate $20 billion in revenues annually.
Mrs. Awani noted that the sector faced 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.
Earlier, Boris Kodjoe, a celebrity actor of Ghanaian descent, highlighted how the creativity of Africans had influenced various aspects of modern life, including music, fashion, art, design, social consciousness, business, sports, film, and TV.
He said that the exploitation of black creativity by the West had had lasting effects and that, despite admiration of black excellence, Africa still faced branding challenges due to external perception fuelled by the traditional media’s depiction of poverty, famine, civil wars, and migration on the continent.
Mr. Kodjoe said that the world craved culturally specific global content and that Africa was a key player in meeting that demand. With the continent’s young population and high connectivity, studios, networks, promoters, and brands were investing in solutions to reach diverse audiences.
