(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
This new edition of Hustle & Flow is full of new opportunities for African Creative and Sports entrepreneurs:
💪🏾 New financing options, new investors, new capacity building programs, new accelerators, new government support, new events to meet and mingle, it looks like the ecosystem is getting into formation.
And if you’re anywhere near Venice between now and November, don’t miss the Arts Biennale, where a record 13 African countries are shining this year.
For the rest, read on 👀👇
FINANCING THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
🚀 Côte d'Ivoire has launched a new initiative aimed at catalyzing funding for creative and cultural entrepreneurs in the country.
🤝The initiative, called Fin Culture, is a partnership between the Ministry of Culture and Francophonie, the Agency for Youth Employment, Orange Bank and Birimian Ventures.
You may remember that Birimian and Orange Bank initially joined forces in 2022 to launch a $163,000 pilot debt fund for Creative MSMEs, focused on the fashion and luxury sector. This first fund enabled the financing of 20 creative entrepreneurs, with a default rate of 0%. The available envelope was later multiplied by 5, reaching $813,000.
💰 Now, Birimian and Orange Bank Africa have expanded their partnership again to create Fin Culture. With a budget of $1.5 million provided by the Agency for Youth Employment, Fin Culture aims to finance 100 projects through medium-term revolving loans ranging from $1,600 to $32,500.
👷🏾Birimian Ventures will serve as a technical and implementation partner, overseeing the selection, evaluation, and financial structuring of the projects. It will also deliver capacity building programs to the selected creative businesses and entrepreneurs.
The creation of the Fin Culture initiative represents a significant financial innovation and marks the first Ivorian public-private partnership dedicated to culture and creation - an important step in positioning Cote d'Ivoire's as a West African cultural and financial hub.
FILM
Another country making moves is Zambia, which has unveiled an ambitious $100 million investment plan to transform its film industry over 4 years.
🎬 The country’s recently revised National Film Policy outlines Zambia’s strategy to cultivate a competitive, sustainable, and responsive Zambian Film Industry, poised to make significant contributions to both the national economy and cultural landscape.
📋 Key highlights of the policy include:
Financing the construction or rehabilitation of production houses, cinemas, studios, and digital distribution hubs
Appointing experienced individuals within relevant ministries and agencies
Investing in skills development through partnerships between the public and private sectors
Establishing a National Film Fund and a National Film Market Hub
Modernizing existing legislation to create a more conducive legal environment
The new policy represents a significant boost to Zambia’s film industry, which has so far been under the radar, especially compared to leading film countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco, or Senegal.
💫 However, Zambia is no doubt brimming with talent, just waiting for an opportunity to shine.
In fact, the country’s most prominent filmmaker, Rungano Nyoni will be back in Cannes in May with “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”. This will be her second feature showing at the festival, after her acclaimed 2017 debut “I Am Not a Witch.”
🎬 In Nigeria, leading studio Inkblot Productions Limited, who is behind major Nollywood hits such as 'The Wedding Party', 'The Set Up, and Netflix’s ‘Far From Home’', has received venture funding from TLG Capital.
Coming on the heels of Editi Effiong's groundbreaking financing strategy for 'The Black Book', this new deal represents another major step towards more structured financing in the Nigerian film industry.
CAPACITY BUILDING
The US Department of State is bringing more grease to Africa’s Creative elbow.
Over the past few weeks, it has announced various initiatives to strengthen the African cultural and creative industries.
🎧First is the American Music Mentorship Program (AMMP), a collaborative project between the State Department and the Recording Academy aimed at mid-level music industry professionals from Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Morocco.
📽 For the audiovisual sector, the African Creative TV (ACTV) initiative will include two components:
a film-focused pilot programme for Nigerian students which draws from the US community college system to offer educational and technical training to international students, aiding in their preparation for the workforce in their home countries.
a four-week residence at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts for African television professionals, where they will be mentored by American TV writers, producers and industry experts.
🎯 The main goal is to give African TV professionals the skills to create content that can compete globally and build a network of African TV creatives.
BROADCASTING
🐍Slowly but surely, Canal+ continues its creeping acquisition of Multichoice shares.
Quick recap: In February, Canal+’s stake in MultiChoice passed the 35% mark, triggering a mandatory firm buy-out offer to shareholders of the South African broadcaster.
But while that offer is under consideration, Canal+ has continued to snap up MultiChoice shares on the open market, increasing its stake to 41.59%.
😎 Canal+ is mopping up these additional shares at a significant discount on its own offer of R125 per share. Indeed, it saved a cool $1.6 million on the acquisition of the latest 3 million shares.
And we can bet that it won’t stop here.
Meanwhile, another French broadcaster is also seeking to strengthen its African ties.
📺 TV5 Monde, an international French channel with an 80% Africa-based audience, has announced plans to open its ownership shares to seven African countries.
🌍 Currently, TV5 Monde's annual budget is supported by six Francophone governments, including France, Switzerland, Canada, Quebec, Monaco, and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
🤝 The African countries invited to participate in TV5 Monde's ownership are Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Congo, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Gabon.
The potential additional funding would allow TV5 Monde to enhance its African programming to better cater to its African audience.
FASHION
💵 B2B marketplace The Folklore has raised a $3.4M seed round to get fashion brands from emerging markets into global stores.
This new round brings the total funding raised by The Folklore to $6.2 million
👠 Founded in 2018 by Amira Rasool, The Folklore facilitates sales for fashion, beauty, health, and wellness brands from Africa, Asia, and The Caribbean, by partnering with global retailers such as Nordstrom.
💪🏽 The new funding, led by Benchstrength, alongside existing investors Slauson & Co., Techstars, and Black Tech Nation Ventures will enable The Folklore to roll out more services to support brands in scaling, such as:
The Folklore Capital, which will provide brands with access to loans of up to $1 million in working capital, as well as purchase order financing, crucial for managing wholesale orders and production expenses.
A labor marketplace, which will connect brands with freelance talent, catering to those unable to hire full-time teams.
The Folklore integrated approach follows the trend of ecommerce businesses pivoting into full-service sales and distribution platforms for brands.
Ivorian startup ANKA made a similar pivot recently, by closing down its legacy ecommerce site Afrikrea to focus on its SaaS business, powering African brands through its products ANKA Marketplace, ANKA Pay and ANKA Shipping.
SPORTS
There’s a new Sports and Creative Industries accelerator on the scene.
🏀 The National Basketball Association (NBA) has launched the "Triple Double: NBA Africa Startup Accelerator" for early-stage African startups.
Operated by technology incubator ALX Ventures, Triple Double will focus on supporting startups in ticketing, event management, youth development, AI and digital marketing.
These areas seem to hint at what NBA Africa sees as gaps in the continent’s fledgling sports industry supply chain.
🏆 Ten startups will win a spot in the accelerator program, where they will receive funding, mentorship, and the chance to collaborate with NBA Africa and the Basketball Africa League (BAL) on impactful initiatives across the continent.
Four final winners will be selected following a demo day slated for September in New York to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
🗓️ Applications are open until May 22nd, 2024 at TripleDoubleAccelerator.NBA.com.
VISUAL ARTS
🎨 The Nigerian Pavilion at the just opened Venice Biennale is “a hit” according to the New York Times.
Titled “Nigeria Imaginary,” the country’s second-ever Venice pavilion is ambitious in concept and scale.
🌟 Aindrea Emelife, the 29-year-old curator, has assembled an impressive lineup of 8 lauded artists. They all have Nigerian roots but live elsewhere, except London-born Ndidi Dike - the only one currently based in Nigeria.
This, however, fits in nicely with the theme of the Biennale: ‘Foreigners Everywhere’.
The Nigerian pavilion’s main attraction is British-Nigerian Yinka Shonibare’s piece, clay replicas of 150 of the Benin Bronzes stolen by the British in 1897 and whose restitution has been a key topic of debate and discussion.
🌍 The African presence at the Venice Biennale has been growing steadily over the past decade.
In 2013, Angola won the Golden Lion for best pavilion. Nigeria’s first and only prior pavilion came in 2017. In 2019, Ghana presented a star-studded show including El Anatsui and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. In 2022, 9 African countries made the trip to Venice. This year, they are 13, including Benin, Senegal, Tanzania and Ethiopia making their debut.
📢 A strong pavilion sends a message about a country’s ambition in the world of arts and culture, but also politics.
Commissioned by the Nigerian government (as required by the Biennale rules), the pavilion has been organized by the highly anticipated Museum of West Africa Art (MOWAA), set to open later this year in Benin City.
The Nigerian pavilion’s top funder is Qatar Museums, alongside galleries, private companies and collectors.
💡Artist Ndidi Dike, whose Venice piece is made of 700 police-grade batons and photographs of 2020’s End SARS protests, said:
“There’s always these not-so-positive discussions about Nigeria. But this is a very dynamic cultural catalyst and hub for the continent — and the world. It’s about time we give Nigeria its due.”
COMING UP IN MAY
The month of May promises to be one of the busiest of the year for the African Creative Industries.
Watch out for:
Cannes Film Festival, May 15-24 in Cannes, France - Seven African films will show on the Croisiere this year, including Rungano Nyoni’s ‘On Becoming a Guinea Fowl’
Africa CEO Forum, May 16-17 in Kigali, Rwanda - For the first time since the event’s inception, the Creative Industries will be part of the CEO Forum program through a strategic roundtable hosted by IFC, which I will have the pleasure to moderate.
Launch of Proparco’s CREA Fund, May 23 in Lagos, Nigeria - a new initiative aimed at encouraging private sector investment in the African Creative Industries. I’ll be hosting and will report back.
Africa Day, May 25 around the world - annual commemoration of the foundation of the Organization of African Unity
Africa Soft Power Summit, May 28-31 in Kigali, Rwanda