Africa Must Turn Culture into Wealth, say Soyinka, Murray-Bruce

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, Silverbird Group founder Ben Murray-Bruce and other stakeholders have called for stronger policies, financing, intellectual-property protection and intra-African market access to unlock the commercial potential of Africa’s creative economy.

They spoke at the high-level session, One Market, One Culture: Building the Creative Economy of Global Africa, during the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX WKND) 2026 in Lagos. The four-day event, organised by Afreximbank and hosted by the Federal Government, runs from November 5 to 8 under the theme, One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World.

Soyinka urges self-reliance

Soyinka urged young Africans to seize the opportunities presented by a changing global order to drive a new continental renaissance. He said Africa must look inward, build productive capacity and reduce dependence on external support.

According to him, creativity, technology and artificial intelligence offer the continent a chance to demonstrate its productive strength and improve its position in the global economy. He challenged the younger generation to build on the achievements of earlier generations and use their skills to transform Africa.

Soyinka also called for regular engagement between political leaders and creative practitioners. He argued that such engagement, anchored on equality, trust and mutual respect, would reduce suspicion between government and the creative sector and produce more productive policy conversations.

Funding remains a barrier

International Finance Corporation (IFC) Division Director for West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, Natalie Koussi Akon, said changing attitudes among parents, artists and financial institutions were opening new opportunities for the creative industry.

She said the sector had long been under-funded and under-recognised, but financial institutions were increasingly seeing its commercial value. Akon disclosed that the IFC had channelled about $1.6 billion into the creative industry over the past five years.

She said the IFC was supporting the sector through visibility, capacity building, market access and stronger links between creative businesses and markets. According to her, technology can improve the visibility of creatives and generate data that helps investors identify viable artists and businesses.

Akon, however, said practitioners still faced barriers in accessing markets, meeting regulatory requirements and moving creative products across countries due to infrastructure and logistics constraints.

Policy and trade reforms

Rwanda’s Minister of State for Youth and Arts, Sandrine Umutoni, said governments must make it easier for creative businesses to operate and trade across borders. She called for investments that support the movement of people and goods, while urging policymakers to identify and remove barriers to trade.

Minister for Grand Bahama, Ginger Moxey, urged African countries to deepen trade among themselves and take advantage of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS). She said stronger continental cooperation would empower people, expand business opportunities and unlock Africa’s economic potential.

The call aligns with Afreximbank’s position that Africa must improve market access for its creators. Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, told the gathering that Africa could not continue to celebrate its creativity while making it difficult for African creators to access African markets.

Murray-Bruce seeks political action

Murray-Bruce, who delivered the keynote address, urged creative professionals to participate directly in governance rather than wait for governments to solve the sector’s problems.

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He said Africa’s history of slavery, colonialism, military rule and political instability had constrained creative expression and denied many talented people the opportunity to develop. He argued that democracy and media liberalisation helped Nigeria’s entertainment industry grow, and called on practitioners to seek elective and appointive positions to influence laws and policies.

“You must take a political position and run for office,” Murray-Bruce said. “The only way you can change the laws of your countries and make it possible for you to have infrastructural development and the copyright you need to be rich and successful is to take a political position.”

He proposed a law requiring financial institutions to allocate 2.5 per cent of all loans to the creative industry. He also argued that intellectual property should be accepted as collateral for loans, instead of forcing creative entrepreneurs to rely solely on conventional security.

Murray-Bruce identified piracy and weak copyright enforcement as major threats to African creatives. He said the industry needed a change in public attitudes towards copyright so that creators could earn sustainable income from their work.

Finance must build ownership

Afreximbank has committed $2 billion through 2027 to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries. The bank said the commitment had grown from an initial $1 billion as demand for financing across the sector expanded.

Afreximbank President, Dr George Elombi, said financing alone would not deliver the desired results unless Africa strengthened ownership and value capture across the creative supply chain. He cited United Nations Economic Commission for Africa estimates valuing Africa’s creative economy at about $60 billion, or roughly two per cent of the global creative industry.

Elombi said the continent must invest beyond production financing in distribution, branding, marketing platforms and intellectual-property ownership. He argued that these areas determine how much of the value generated by African culture remains on the continent.

From applause to contracts

CANEX WKND 2026 has brought together more than 15,000 delegates from governments, financial institutions, creative businesses and the diaspora. Its programme includes the CANEX Deal Room, Creative Economy Finance Summit, pitch sessions and sector-focused engagements across film, music, fashion, publishing, gastronomy, sport and technology.

Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said transactions worth more than $500 million were already being discussed between Nigerian entrepreneurs, buyers and investors in deal rooms co-curated with Afreximbank.

The consensus among participants was clear: Africa’s cultural influence must now be converted into contracts, exports, jobs and lasting wealth.