“CANEX Provide Platforms For Trade And Investment Exchange”

Afreximbank is financing the creative industries with 2 billion dollars. What is this funding used for?

The two-billion-dollar envelope is to support the seven verticals that we are looking at. Film, music, fashion and design; arts and crafts; sports, literature, and gastronomy. Aside from Afreximbank is able to provide this. Our experience has shown that the more popular form of financing for the creatives as refined is the venture type of financing. We are beyond that and that is why two years ago we set up a business called the CANEX Gracious incorporated that deals specifically with equity, venture type deals and sort of stem the exploitation of intellectual property. And also supports the acquisition of intellectual property. African creatives can do the business of creating. Knowing that their intellectual rights are preserved. The other things we do that are not necessarily financing but are facilitation is the kind of support we give for instance fashion designers. This programme CANEX, providing platforms for trade and investment exchange. For buyers to come and meet creators. For joint ventures arrangements to be forged. Because the idea for us is to ensure that capital meets opportunities and also make sure that our creators are prepared and well positioned to take advantage of those partnerships and those opportunities. I say that for many reasons. If we are going to support or fashion designers, we supported about 200 fashion designers from Africa and the Caribbean to walk the runways of Portugal, Paris, New York, Tokyo, but the reason is only that limited is because fashion designers have to bring in their standards to be able to do that work. And some of those fashion designers we have supported like Kibonen, Chuks Collins and many more that have found buyers in Galeries Lafayette in Paris, are selling their works in Austram in the USA, because your work has to be of a certain standard. And that is why the whole premise today and since the week we have been running master classes digitally as well.

Financing for the creative industries remains a constraint, admittedly, but what are the other challenges facing the sector?

The market failures that the whole CANEX thought about is to deal with issues of finance but financing alone is not the problem. There is the issue of lack of skill sets and that is why we run capacity building programmes. There is also the issue of lack of market access. That is the fact that we can have the talent, we can have the structures but we don't have the exposure to find buyers and investors, and so we provide trade and investment exchanges like this one. So, if you go to the fashion and investment trade exchanges, there are buyers we have invited to come and meet designers for instance. Or if you go to the music factory where we are curating song writers for our music to be able to support the streaming of those original songs. Also, another thing that we are trying to do is to support the establishment and strengthening of our institutions. There is so much that was said in the forum today about intell...