The Race to Own Africa’s Cultural Goldmine
How African markets can turn creative power into enduring economic infrastructure before the window closes.
Across music, film, fashion, and gaming, African creators are reshaping global culture. Afrobeats tops international charts. Nollywood fills Netflix libraries. African fashion turns global runways.
Yet behind the surge in influence lies a harsher reality:
Africa creates the culture — but others capture the value.
Despite booming demand, the financial systems that turn creativity into lasting wealth — rights ownership, royalty routing, monetization rails — are overwhelmingly controlled offshore.
This is not a failure of talent. It is a failure of infrastructure.
The Real Gap: Infrastructure, Not Imagination
Africa’s creative industries — valued at over $58 billion (UNESCO) — are growing faster than almost any traditional sector. Nigeria’s music market alone is forecasted to expand at a 13.4% CAGR, reaching $44 million in streaming revenues by 2026 (PwC, 2023). Nollywood remains the world’s second-largest film producer by volume.
But revenue capture lags far behind production.
Why? Three struct…