The Creative Africa Nexus Weekend (CANEX WKND) 2024, organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), officially commenced on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, in Algiers, Algeria. This flagship event highlights the continent’s vibrant cultural and creative industries and is poised to be one of Africa’s most significant cultural and economic gatherings of the year.
Ahead of the event’s opening, Afreximbank President Professor Benedict Oramah met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to discuss the objectives of the event and its importance for Global Africa. The four-day event, which runs from October 16 to 19, will bring together leading figures in music, cinema, fashion, gastronomy, and visual arts, centered on the theme “One People, United in Culture, creating for the world.”
Afreximbank’s CANEX WKND 2024 aims to foster collaboration and growth across Africa’s creative sectors and implement pan-African measures to support the continent’s cultural industries.
Commenting on the event, Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President of Intra Africa Trade and Export Development, announced a significant increase in the bank’s funding for Africa’s creative industries. The bank has boosted its financial commitment to USD $1 billion, up from the $500 million pledged in 2022. This increase reflects the growing demand for financing in sectors like film, music, visual arts, fashion, and sports. Currently, Afreximbank is managing a pipeline of creative deals worth over $600 million.
Awani said, “At Afreximbank, we see enormous opportunities for the creative industries growth because, globally, the creative industry is fast becoming a potent economic force across most economies and it is our firm belief that the CANEX initiative represents a powerful medium to realise Aspiration Five of Africa’s Agenda 2063.”
She added, “Afreximbank has been busy supporting various activities in the creative industry. In 2023, Afreximbank financed its first feature film, which premiered at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival. In sports, Afreximbank financed the construction of the Houphouet Biogny Sports Stadium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which hosted some of the most memorable moments of the African Cup of Nations earlier this year. And in music, Afreximbank launched the CANEX Music Factory, which has facilitated the production of 32 original songs, with a 12-track album set to be released on major platforms such as iTunes and Spotify this November.”
CANEX WKND 2024 continues to position itself as a crucial platform for showcasing Africa’s innovative talent and for driving unity and economic advancement through culture.
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries to effectively participate in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. The Bank disbursed more than US$104 billion between 2016 and 2023. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure, (together, “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
Melissa Enoch
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