Creative Africa Nexus 2026 opens in Lagos

Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) WKND 2026 has opened in Lagos, bringing together leading creatives, investors, policymakers, business leaders and cultural figures from across Africa and the diaspora for four days of conversations, deal-making, performances, exhibitions and industry-focused sessions.

Hosted by the Federal Government of Nigeria and organised by African Export-Import Bank through its Creative Africa Nexus programme, this year’s event runs from 5 to 8 November under the theme “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World.”

The 2026 programme spans film and television, music, fashion, sport, literature and publishing, gastronomy and visual arts, with a strong focus on finance, intellectual property, technology, skills, investment and market access.

Across the four-day programme, CANEX WKND will provide platforms for deal-making, industry dialogue and sector-specific engagement, including the CANEX Deal Room, with the aim of turning creative talent and ideas into stronger businesses, partnerships and commercial opportunities.

That ambition reflects the evolution of Afreximbank’s commitment to Africa’s creative and cultural industries in 2020, subsequently doubling this to US$1 billion before quadrupling the original commitment financing available to US$2 billion.

The expansion reflects Afreximbank’s wider objective of helping African creators and creative businesses build scalable enterprises, strengthen ownership of intellectual property and retain more of the economic value generated by African culture and creativity.

The opening ceremony is expected to feature addresses by Ministers of Culture and Creative Industries across 11 African countries, Dr George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, H.E. Dr Olajumoke Omoniyi Oduwole, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, and H.E. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State among other dignitaries.

The programme will bring together some of Africa and the diaspora’s most influential cultural and industry figures. Participants include Nobel Laureate, writer and playwright Professor Wole Soyinka; Emmy Award-winning actor Uzo Aduba; filmmaker and actor Funke Akindele; actors Richard Mofe-Damijo and Thuso Mbedu; former professional footballers Didier Drogba and Jay-Jay Okocha; alongside leading figures from Africa’s music, film, fashion, sport and creative business sectors.

The event will also include performances and appearances from musicians and entertainers such as Davido, Fally Ipupa, Flavour, Libianca and Charlotte Dipanda, reflecting CANEX WKND’s combination of industry engagement with live cultural programming.

Beyond the headline names, the programme places a strong emphasis on the business of Africa’s creative economy.

On 6 November, a high-level conversation titled “One Market, One Culture: Building the Creative Economy of Global Africa” will examine the steps required to convert the growing global influence of African culture into stronger creative businesses, exports and investment. Speakers include Professor Wole Soyinka; ministers responsible for culture and the arts from Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa and Rwanda; International Finance Corporation representatives; and from Afreximbank.

Financing will also be central to the programme. The Creative Economy Finance Summit, presented by Afreximbank in partnership with the Creative Economy Practice at Co-Creation Hub, will bring financial institutions and investors together to examine how creative-economy transactions can be structured, financed and de-risked.

CANEX Creations Inc. will lead discussions on unlocking investment in African intellectual property, while the CANEX Deal Room and Creative Pitch Sessions will connect creative entrepreneurs directly with financiers and investors considering opportunities across film and television, music, fashion, sport, publishing, gastronomy, visual arts and creative infrastructure. Technology and the changing economics of creative production will feature prominently. Sessions will examine artificial intelligence, authorship and intellectual property; the use of technology to reshape creative businesses; and how African creators can use digital tools to develop globally competitive products.

The CANEX CreaThon, delivered with pan-African technology company Gebeya, will bring creators, developers and innovators together around projects in music, video and gaming, supported by African-built digital tools, mentorship, computing resources and a $50,000 prize pool. 

Film and television programming will explore both storytell ing and the commercial infrastructure required to take African content to wider audiences. Sessions include “Stories Without Borders: Africa, Hollywood & the Global Diaspora”, featuring former Afreximbank President Professor Benedict Oramah, and “Made in Africa, Watched in Africa”, which will examine research into film distribution, audiences and financing across Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa.

Sport will form another major strand of CANEX WKND 2026. Discussions will examine athlete development, management, commercialisation and the links between sport and the broader creative economy. Didier Drogba and Jay-Jay Okocha are scheduled to participate in “When Giants Speak: The Business of the Game,” while the weekend will conclude with a Legends Football Match at Onikan Stadium on 8 November. Fashion programming will include masterclasses on building profitable African brands, textile value chains, market access and intellectual property, alongside the CANEX Fashion Show and Awards Night.

In gastronomy, the CANEX Junior Chefs Competition, Africa Jollof Wars Competition and a series of live demonstrations and conversations will explore how African food, ingredients and culinary traditions can become stronger commercial propositions across domestic, continental and global markets. 

Publishing and literature will feature through the CANEX Book Factory, Book Fair, writers’ workshops, manuscript pitching and the CANEX Prize for Publishing, while visual arts programming will combine exhibitions, collector engagement and practical sessions for artists navigating Africa’s growing art ecosystem.

On 7 November, CANEX WKND 2026 will host a major concert bringing together artists from across Africa and the diaspora, before the programme continues into its final day on 8 November with cultural excursions, gastronomy activities, the CANEX Music Factory Songwriting Camp and the Legends Football Game.