The Arts: Creative Africa Nexus Weekend 2022 set for Abidjan
The next edition of the highly successful Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Weekend will be held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire taking place 25-27th November 2022, it has been confirmed.
The Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), a programme put in place by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is designed specifically for African creatives including digital innovators and experts, fashion, film, and music actors looking for ways to monetise their content across the digital landscape. The Platform encourages creatives to find innovative ways to use existing technology to increase their remuneration and thrive in their careers.
Afreximbank, is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. Afreximbank deploys innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. Afreximbank also works with the African Union and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA Secretariat to develop an Adjustment Facility to support countries in effectively participating in the AfCFTA.
Connecting the creative Economy
The date for CANEX 2022 was confirmed by Professor Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank), who described the creative industry as a bankable market.
Addressing participants at the recently-concluded 29th Afreximbank Annual Meetings (AAM2022) held in Cairo, Prof. Oramah said that the creative industry had the power “to catalyse intra-African trade, create millions of jobs for the continent’s young population, and promote the emergence of national and regional value chains.”
He hailed the power of creatives to spur industrial development, explaining that Afreximbank instituted the CANEX programme to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries in a manner that would revolutionise the continent’s untapped talents.
“The CANEX programme represents an opportunity to unlock the best of Africa,” he emphasised, while giving the assurance of the Bank’s continued support to the creative economy. He encouraged the youth of Africa to attend. “Come to us. We will support you,” he said.
About USD 128M of the USD 500M facility set aside as seed capital by Afreximbank towards CANEX has already been invested in the form of loans to artists and facilitation of initiatives aimed at activating the Nexus. For example, 20 African Fashion designers were supported to take part at the Portugal Fashion Show on an apprenticeship programme as part of the Bank’s initiative to globalize Africa’s fashion industry.
“The cultural and creative industries have merged to create one of the most dynamic sectors of the global economy,” adds Mrs Kanayo Awani, Managing Director of Afreximbank’s Intra-African Trade Initiative (IATF).
The IATF, provides a platform to promote trade under the AfCFTA by bringing together continental and global buyers and sellers, and enabling stakeholders to share trade, investment and market information as well as trade finance and trade facilitation solutions designed to support intra-African trade and the economic integration of the continent.
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