Through credit (direct/indirect), venture funding, equity, guarantees, project and asset-based finance, Afreximbank has also deployed specialised products for financing some CCI sectors.
The Film Financing Development Facility is a debt financing solution aimed at supporting the development and production of films produced by African entities, African-owned entities in the diaspora or Joint Venture Partnerships with Africans in support of the production of African content. It not only targets film productions but attempts to address financing gaps in the entire value chain, from construction of cinemas and studios, purchasing of film equipment or the scaling up of existing African film distribution channels.
The Music Development Facility is a debt financing solution aimed at supporting the production and distribution of music produced by African recording artists/recording labels. The underlying objective is to back production by recording artists and ‘record labels’ with a history of strong sales.
To achieve the above the Bank has committed a $1 billion facility for Creative and Cultural Industries.
Through various digital and physical activities CANEX continues to ensure the expansion of skills training, business development support and professional growth through partnerships with expert intermediaries to enable creative enterprises to grow and operate in a wider context. These activities, such as the CANEX Music Factory, CANEX Script to screen and the CANEX Book Factory encompass masterclasses and support to incubators/accelerators, amongst other interventions.
Afreximbank has identified key gaps with creative production value chains and has created interventions that focus on bridging these gaps, with a focus on access to markets. The aim of these linkages, partnerships, and interventions is to facilitate access to international markets; to promote trade and export opportunities; to increase manufacturing and production capacity, and competitiveness for export markets.
Since October 2021, 80 Luxury African brands have benefited from our access to market initiative, dubbed CANEX Presents Africa, where African Designers have an opportunity to showcase their products at Portugal Fashion week and at Paris Fashion Week, Tranoï Tradeshow, providing them an opportunity to engage with global audiences, retail buyers, wholesalers, and global media, for business development and the promotion of African products.
Through various events and innovative projects, Afreximbank works to engage in trade and export development initiatives that bring together governments, bi/multi-lateral organisations and the private sector to work collectively to create an enabling environment for the African CCI. Africa’s creative economies, including fashion, music, film, gastronomy, sports, literature, and visual art, amongst others, are showcased through the biennial CANEX WKND and CANEX at IATF (Intra-African Trade Fair), comprising Creative Africa Summit, a dedicated Creatives Exhibition, and Live Theatre Programme among other activities for the growth of Africa’s CCI.
With its governmental and NGO partners, Afreximbank undertakes high level political advocacy that facilitates policy formulation, creating an enabling regulatory and operating environment for creatives in Africa and the diaspora.