Browsing: Africa’s film industry

• Afreximbank has announced plans to establish a $1 billion Africa Film Fund in 2024.
• Africa Film Fund will oversee financing of African filmmakers, producers, and directors of creative projects across the continent.
• Despite its potential to employ over 20 million people, Africa’s film industry is facing several challenges. These include limited access to financing and copyright infringement due to weak copyright laws.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced plans to establish a $1 billion Africa Film Fund to be launched in 2024. Addressing the opening of the 2023 CANEX Summit held as part of the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023), Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President at Afreximbank, said that the fund will oversee film financing, co-finance with large studios, finance African filmmakers, and finance producers and directors of film projects across the continent.

Awani revealed that so far, the Bank has a pipeline of over $600 million …

• Since its entry into Africa in 2016, video streaming giant Netflix has invested a total of $175 million in the continent’s film production, creating over 12,000 jobs.
• Africa’s film industry accounts for $5 billion of the continent’s GDP and currently employs five million people with the potential to create 20 million jobs
• In the period, Netflix’s activities in the three countries generated $218 million towards the gross domestic product value, $44 million in tax revenues, and $200 million worth of increased household income.

Africa’s film industry has been on a growth path with local content production taking center stage, a trend that has attracted global players such as US-based video streaming giant Netflix, which has identified the potential and is investing heavily in the vibrant entertainment segment.

US-based Netflix says it has spent $175 million in film production in the continent’s leading markets of Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa since …