Follow Us on Google
By Faheem Lawal
Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the Federal Government is strengthening intellectual property protection and widening access to finance for creative industries, to position Nigeria to lead creative trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Shettima made the remarks on Thursday in Lagos at the opening of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Weekend 2026, held at the National Theatre, now the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts. He spoke on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.
The four-day event, running from 5 to 8 November, is hosted by the Federal Government and organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) under the theme “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World.” It is the first time the gathering has come to Nigeria.
The vice president said creativity was now a trade sector and the government intended to treat it as one. He recalled that in 1977 Africa came to the same venue to celebrate its culture, adding that in 2026 it had come to capitalise on it.
He said the 2024 edition in Algiers drew close to 4,000 participants from 81 countries and facilitated deals worth over $540 million. Afreximbank, he added, has committed $2 billion to Africa’s creative industries through 2027.
Shettima urged creatives to leave Lagos with signed deals and distribution agreements rather than memories alone. He asked investors to back African creative companies and governments to lower barriers between African creatives and African markets.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, said Nigeria’s bid to host the event began in November 2024, when President Tinubu approved the submission of the country’s bid to host the 2027 Intra-African Trade Fair.
She listed recent policy steps, including Nigeria’s emergence in February 2025 as co-champion of the AfCFTA Protocol on Digital Trade, and the Federal Executive Council’s approval in November 2025 of the country’s first national intellectual property policy and strategy.
She added that the government released a Creative Sector Investment Playbook at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026. According to her, the Federal Government, through the Office of the Vice President and the Bank of Industry, is unlocking over $600 million in financing for digital and creative enterprises under the IDICE programme.
Oduwole said the previous CANEX drew about 6,000 participants, while registration for the Lagos edition had to be stopped at 17,000.
The President of Afreximbank, Dr George Elombi, said African creators often make the hits while others make the money, as distribution, branding, marketing platforms, catalogues and intellectual property rights are controlled elsewhere.
He cited the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s estimate that Africa’s creative economy is worth about $60 billion, which he said was only about two per cent of the global creative industry.
Elombi said Africa’s challenge was value capture, not just financing production, and that CANEX was designed to help creators retain more of the value they generate. He said Afreximbank’s creative-sector commitment started at $500 million, was raised to $1 billion, and was increased to $2 billion in 2024.
He challenged participants to ensure the Lagos Deal Room delivers “several multiples” of the $540 million recorded in Algiers.
The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, welcomed delegates and said the city was ready to be where a single African market for creative goods is first made.
He urged young creatives to register, protect and properly price their work, and told investors, buyers and financiers that federal and state authorities were ready to make transactions happen. He also said Lagos would host the Intra-African Trade Fair next year.
Ministers from several African and Caribbean countries, including Rwanda, Botswana, Namibia and The Bahamas, were among the dignitaries at the opening.
Earlier, at the closing of the ministerial roundtable, the Permanent Secretary (Programmes) in the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Abdul Karim Ibrahim, said the roundtable’s success would be measured by what is done with its recommendations. He urged participants to move “from dialogue to action” and to turn commitments into policies, programmes, partnerships and investments.
The programme includes the CANEX Deal Room, a Creative Economy Finance Summit, a concert on 7 November and a Legends Football Match at Onikan Stadium on 8 November.
