Africa Creatives Alliance (ACA) is convening a Pan-African Community of Practice (CoP) designed for creative economy intermediaries — including creative hubs, maker-spaces, incubators, pre-incubators, accelerators, and other ecosystem support organisations working across Africa’s cultural and creative sectors/ industries (CCSI)

Join our growing continental network of intermediaries working to strengthen the institutional, relational, and operational infrastructure needed for Africa’s creative ecosystems to grow, collaborate, and thrive.

Why an Intermediary CoP?

Intermediaries play a catalytic role within creative ecosystems; connecting creatives and cultural enterprises to knowledge, markets, investment, policy, infrastructure, partnerships, and opportunity. Yet despite their importance, many intermediaries continue to operate in fragmented and under-resourced environments.

The ACA Intermediary CoP creates a collaborative platform for peer learning, ecosystem coordination, knowledge exchange, capacity strengthening, and collective advocacy across the continent.

About the Community of Practice

The ACA Community of Practice is designed as a collaborative platform for:

• Ecosystem exchange and peer learning

• Cross-border collaboration and partnership development

• Knowledge sharing and ecosystem intelligence

• Capacity strengthening through targeted sessions 

• Joint problem-solving around creative economy challenges and joint mobilisation around solutions 

• Inclusive, participatory, and community-centred approaches to creative ecosystem development

• Strategic engagement around policy, investment, trade, and ecosystem development

• Collective visibility and representation of Africa’s intermediary ecosystem

Who We Are Looking For

We invite expressions of interest from intermediary organisations, entities and ecosystem actors working across Africa’s cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSI), including: 

• Creative and innovation hubs 

• Pre-incubators, incubators and accelerators

• Makerspaces, fabrication labs and creative labs

• Cultural centres and arts organisations

• Ecosystem support and business support organisations, 

• Creative economy networks, associations, and coordination platforms 

• Hybrid innovation, culture, and creative entrepreneurship platforms

Particularly those actively engaged in:

• Capacity building, incubation,and enterprise support

• Upskilling, reskilling, and vocational or workforce development 

• Creative enterprise and business development

• Provision of CCSI-related infrastructure, studios, and production spaces

• Ecosystem convening, coordination, and facilitation

• Creative technology, digital innovation, and emerging practices

• Research, data, and knowledge development

• Market access, financing, and investment readiness

• Policy engagement, representation, and advocacy

• Cross-sector and multi-stakeholder collaboration

What Members Contribute

Members of the Community of Practice are expected to actively contribute to the strengthening and advancement of Africa’s creative ecosystem through:

• Participation in peer learning, exchange, and collaborative engagement

• Sharing ecosystem insights, knowledge, tools, and emerging practices

• Contributing to collective dialogue, research, and ecosystem intelligence

• Supporting ecosystem visibility, coordination, and continental connectivity

• Engaging in strategic conversations shaping the future of Africa’s creative economy

What Members Gain

Community of Practice members will benefit from opportunities including:

• Access to Pan-African ecosystem exchange, learning, and collaboration

• Participation in strategic convenings, dialogues, and ecosystem discussions

• Visibility within ACA’s continental network, platforms, and ecosystem activities

• Access to research, knowledge products, ecosystem intelligence, and shared resources

• Targeted training, capacity strengthening, and workshop sessions

• Opportunities for collaboration across programmes, initiatives, and partnerships

• Exposure to emerging ecosystem models, methodologies, and innovation practices

• Potential participation in future ACA programmes, partnerships, and continental opportunities

• Connection to a growing network of intermediaries shaping Africa’s creative economy

Why This Matters

Africa’s creative economy cannot scale through isolated actors alone. Intermediaries form the critical connective tissue linking creatives and creative enterprises to markets, institutions, finance, infrastructure, knowledge, and opportunity.

ACA believes that strengthening this often under-recognised “missing middle” is essential to building resilient, interconnected, and globally competitive creative ecosystems across the continent.

How to Express Interest

Interested organisations are invited to submit an Expression of Interest through the application and registration link below::

Application/Registration link

For inquiries or additional information, please contact:

[email protected]