Africa Creative Economy Lens

Building Sustainable Infrastructure
for Africa’s Creative Economies

Introduction

Africa Creatives Alliance (ACA) is built on a Pan-African network of partners and members dedicated to empowering and advancing the creative economy across the continent. Through strategic collaboration, ACA connects, equips, and supports Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) to unlock their full potential. Our work is anchored in four strategic pillars, each reinforcing a mission to build a dynamic and well-financed creative ecosystem that improves access to capital, scales creative enterprises, and drives long-term sustainability and economic transformation.

The Alliance recognizes creative intermediaries such as hubs, accelerators, incubators, and makerspaces as critical cornerstones and scalable enablers of Africa’s creative economy, serving as vital conduits for nurturing talent, facilitating production, enabling commercialization, and connecting creatives to markets, mentorship, and investment opportunities. Through these intermediaries, we seek to activate support at scale, strengthening their business models, promoting best practices, and cultivating enabling environments underpinned by favorable regulation and sustained investment.

ACA Speaker
ACA Group

Africa Creative

Economy Lens (ACEL)

The Africa Creative Economy Lens (ACEL) is the flagship convening of the Africa Creatives Alliance (ACA) and Africa’s premier platform for shaping the continent’s creative and cultural future. Conceived as a strategic marketplace of ideas, investment, and collaboration, ACEL brings together policymakers, creative intermediaries, investors, and industry leaders to unlock the full potential of Africa’s creative economy.

More than a convening, ACEL is a co-creation platform—a dynamic space where actionable insights, knowledge products, and solution frameworks are collaboratively developed to address the sector’s most pressing challenges. These outcomes move beyond dialogue, informing policy decisions, program design, and investment priorities across the creative value chain.

ACEL is designed to shift the creative sector from fragmented activity to integrated, investable ecosystems that generate jobs, drive exports, and foster sustainable growth. Through its forums, showcases, and collaborative labs, ACEL enables evidence-based policymaking, strengthens cross-border partnerships, and amplifies African creative excellence on the global stage.

ACEL Panel
ACEL Audience

The Journey

2024

Addis Ababa

Launch with the African Union

The Africa Creatives Alliance (ACA) was launched in partnership with the African Union during the inaugural Africa Urban Forum in Addis Ababa, marking a continental commitment to treating creativity as an economic priority. Following the launch, ACA unveils the report titled, "Moonshot 8: An Orchestrated & Prosperous Creative Economy — Catalysing Sustainable Growth in Africa."
Milestones:
  • Alliance Launched
  • Moonshot Report
2024
2025

Kigali

From Declaration to Action

Over 200 leaders, including government representatives, DFIs, investors, and creatives from more than 20 countries convened in Kigali, Rwanda, with endorsement from the Rwanda Ministry of Youth and Arts. The convening featured co-creation workshops on Creative Economy Governance, Intellectual Property (IP), and AfCFTA integration.
Milestones:
  • 200+ Leaders Convened
  • 20+ Countries Represented
  • Creative Economy Action Paper
  • Investment Safe Label Pilot
2025
2026

Building Sustainable Infrastructure

Building on this momentum, ACEL 2026 will take place on 27-28 August 2026, under the theme "Building Sustainable Infrastructure for Africa’s Creative Economies."
2026

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