In line with the African Union Agenda 2063, “The Africa we want”, the Africa Creatives Alliance (ACA) is poised to become a key catalyst in transforming Africa into a global power by harnessing the immense potential of the continent’s cultural and creative sectors. This ground-breaking alliance will enable cultural and creative entrepreneurs to fully contribute to Africa’s development and inclusion goals.
Details
ACA, in collaboration with a diverse consortium of partners including African Union, UN-Habitat, MoTIV Africa, Inuka Ongoza Africa, Artisans of Innovation, British Council, AfriLabs, Save the Children, Innovation Village, and others, will officially kick off the launch phase at the inaugural Africa Urban Forum. This landmark event represents an important step in harnessing the power of Africa’s creative industries to achieve socio-economic development and strengthen continental unity.
The African Urban Forum (AUF)established by the African Union Commission and its Member States during the Fourth Regular Session of the Special Technical Committee on Public Service, Local Government, Urban Development and Decentralization (AU-STC No.8) held in Cairo, Egypt in August of 2022, addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by rapid urbanization in Africa.
AUF serves as a continental platform aimed at promoting an inclusive and holistic approach to unlocking the potential of urbanization across Africa. The urban context is important to consider as a tool in the context of culture and creative industry development due to the catalytic function of culture and creative industry density, if leveraged through supportive clusters, incubators and hubs, optimizing costs, knowledge and expertise . The wider ecosystem in terms of politics and other areas is also present and within reach.
By The Numbers
The Creative Economy in Africa is a dynamic but under-exploited engine of GDP growth and employment, with enormous potential to drive the socio-economic transformation of the continent. The global impact of the cultural and creative industries generates its annual revenue nearly US$2.3 billion (about US$7 per person in the US) and creates almost 30 million jobs worldwidewith a significant proportion of these jobs held by young people aged 15-29 (UNESCO, UNCTAD).
The wider cultural and creative sectors account for 3.1% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 6.2% of total employment (UNESCO).
ILO estimates show that total culture and creative industries accounted for 1.4 percent global employment or 46.2 million jobs in 2019. The same report states that in 2019 Asia and the Pacific accounted for the largest share of global media and culture employment at 52%, while Africa accounted for 9%.
Global data and research highlight the transformative potential of the creative economy to boost export earnings and create job opportunities. The same opportunities apply to Africa’s youth and accelerating socio-economic development. However, an orchestrated focus needs to be implemented to achieve the activation of creative economies across the continent.
Because this matters
The launch of the ACA marks an important step in harnessing the power of Africa’s creative and cultural sectors for development and inclusion goals. In the process of harnessing the power of Africa’s creative and cultural industries for development and inclusion goals, it is important to understand what it means and raise awareness of how cultural and creative industries can be better streamlined into various programs and policies.
It must be done in a way that ensures the inherent growth of the cultural and creative sector, while also having effects on other sectors and development sectors.
What They Say
Rita NgenjiFounding Director of the Africa Creatives Alliance, he emphasized the critical need for a concerted effort to build strong Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) ecosystems across Africa.
“While we have vibrant pockets of CCI networks and events across the continent, a unified continent-wide ecosystem remains elusive. ACA will bridge this gap by leveraging best practices from across Africa, facilitating knowledge transfer and fostering the collaboration needed to drive Africa’s cultural and creative renaissance“, she said.
“Building on our experiences with MOTIV and working with similar initiatives across the continent, the Africa Creative Alliance is a big-stakes coalition that aims to unlock the enormous potential of Africa’s creative economy. By 2050, one in four people will be African, making our continent a key growth market. With over 70% of the population relying on the informal economy and facing a huge challenge in creating jobs, Africa’s future lies in its untapped human potential.’- Founder CK Japheth & Team Leader MoTIV Africa.
‘At AfriLabs, we believe in the power of collaboration and innovation to unlock the potential of Africa’s creative industries. The Africa Creatives Alliance is a bold step towards creating a unified ecosystem that will empower creatives across the continent. By connecting hubs, entrepreneurs and policymakers, we can ensure that Africa’s creative talent thrives and contributes significantly to the socio-economic development of our continent.‘- Anna Ekeledo AfriLabs Executive Director.
Enabling creative economies should not be rocket science. However, it is complicated due to many obstacles where the perception of a separation between culture and economy creates a huge gap and is the biggest obstacle in people’s minds. We need to know our elements, orchestrate them, apply them, raise awareness. We must master cooperation to get there and break free from dead-end agendas. – Johanna Kouzmine-Karavaïeff Culture & Creative Industry Expert, Founding Partner Artisans of Innovation.
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