Afrexim Bank to Set Up $1B African Film Fund to Boost Creative Industry

Via its impact investment arm known as the Fund for Export-Development in Africa (FEDA), the African Export-Import (Afrexim) Bank will spearhead the setting up of the Africa Film Fund as part of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) with a target to mobilize at least USD 1 billion for Africa’s film and creative industries.

This development follows the announcement by Afrexim Bank at CANEX Weekend (#CANEX2024), which took place place in Algiers in October 2024, that it will launch a private equity fund to support film production in Africa. The Fund aims to promote the production of high-quality feature films and TV series and to propagate African culture around the world.

According to figures compiled by UNESCO, the film industry in Africa generates USD 5 billion annually and supports 5 million jobs. However, many areas still leave room for improvement. For instance, at the distribution level, African has a relatively low number cinema screens relative to its population with only a small fraction enjoying access to digital Video-on-Demand (VoD) platforms.

As part of its efforts to foster the cinema sector, Afrexim Bank will associate itself and support Africa’s top film awards. Nigeria has long been known for its film studios, sometimes referred to as Nollywood. However, Kenya has recently been making a notable appearance on the African film scene.

The African continent can leverage its rich culture and heritage to produce and translate video content in English, French, Portuguese or Arabic, not to mention the multitude of regional or local languages.

“Through investments in the film sector, alongside initiatives such as the CANEX Shorts Awards, Afreximbank is committed to celebrating and amplifying a diverse range of African voices and experiences, thereby catalysing the creative industry and unleashing the creative industry’s potential to drive economic growth across Africa.”

Afrexim Bank President and FEDA Chair Benedict Oramah

FEDA provide financing via equity or debt and aims to contribute to the economic transformation of Africa. It targets various sectors such as manufacturing, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, healtchcare, and is now appending the creative industry in its portfolio.