Africa is projected to produce up to 10 percent of global creative goods export worth roughly $200 billion or 4 percent of Africa’s GDP by 2030, said Boris Kodjoe, a celebrity actor of Ghanaian descent, on Thursday.
Speaking at the CANEX Summit at the IATF 2023, Kodjoe highlighted how the creativity of Africans had influenced various aspects of modern life, including music, fashion, art, design, social consciousness, business, sports, film and TV.
He said the exploitation of black creativity by the West had had lasting effects and that, despite admiration of black excellence, Africa still witnesses branding challenges due to external perception fuelled by the traditional media’s depiction of poverty, famine, civil wars and migration on the continent.
The world craved culturally specific global content and that Africa was a key player in meeting that demand, he added. With the continent’s young population and high connectivity, studios, networks, promoters and brands were investing in solutions in order to reach diverse audiences. Films and TV shows with diversity performed much better than others by 30 percent and Afrobeats was taking over global airwaves.
