Cultural and Creative Industries

Cultural policies are critical to ensuring fair redistribution of revenues across the entire value chain, such as through copyright. They can also stimulate specific sectors through good-quality regulatory frameworks, such as in the Nigerian film industry.

For many cultural companies, reducing piracy is the main economic and legal challenge. In order to identify obstacles to fair remuneration of creative professionals, AFD commissioned a study on copyright in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), available in French. We are also working on a project to support the collective management of copyrights.

The CCI play an important role in providing access to employment and fostering inclusion of the most vulnerable social groups and individuals. In Africa, the crafts sector represents around 30% of jobs in the informal economy, while in Côte d’Ivoire, 80% of textile companies belong to women.

Digital technology, which has profoundly disrupted the ways in which culture is produced, distributed and consumed, is also closely linked to employment in the CCI. This context has stimulated forms of entrepreneurship whose potential will be further liberated by additional financing.

AFD provides support to these innovative sectors. For example, we are assisting a business incubator focused on audiovisual content creation (animated films, video games) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Similarly, through the Afrique Créative call for projects, AFD supports creative entrepreneurship by offering technical and financial assistance to a dozen entrepreneurs in that sector. 
 

In order for the creative industries to grow, professional development is needed in the fields of management, facility management and culture-related technical professions (performance technologies, audiovisual professions, heritage conservation, etc.).

In our countries of intervention, AFD seeks to build the capacities of creative professionals by developing training centres and capitalising on French expertise and partnerships with French organisations. For example, we supported the creation of a Createch Animation and Game School in Nairobi, in partnership with the French animation school Rubika and the Africa Digital Media Institute (ADMI). The goal is to provide a world-class programme in the creative sector to provide African talent with opportunities in the digital professions.
 

The presence of top-notch cultural facilities creates a virtuous circle that provides local populations with better access to culture and stimulates creation, all while fostering social inclusion, youth education and citizenship. It also bolsters the area’s attractiveness, particularly through heritage promotion. This has long been a key priority for AFD, since it has a positive impact on tourism and the local economic fabric in general.

In Santa Fe, Argentina, AFD is supporting the renovation of the Mercado Progreso historic building, which is being transformed into a public incubator and centre for the promotion of local creative industries. This new space fosters inter-cultural dialogue and also improves the social well-being of local residents.