BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC — The Director of Creatives and Diaspora at the Cairo-based Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Temwa Gondwe, says there is potential for the financial institution to invest in film production, music, fashion, and sports in the Caribbean.
Afreximbank, whose regional headquarters is based in Barbados – its first outside Africa – was a sponsor of the 15th edition of the Caribbean Festival of Arts, CARIFESTA, which concluded here on Sunday.
Gondwe told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that, having recognised the relevance and opportunities provided by the creative economy as a key driver for development and job creation, Afreximbank established the Creative Africa Nexus programme (CANEX) to support the development of Africa’s creative and cultural industries.
CANEX also addresses some of the challenges faced by this economy through the provision of access to finance, capacity building, trade, investment, and export promotion, as well as access to new market opportunities, digital solutions, and policy advocacy to fast-track the scaling of Africa’s creative sectors within the global economy.
“We take fashion designers from what we can call global Africa, from Africa, the Caribbean, and the wider diaspora to places like Portugal, Paris, and New York, and other fashion weeks. You find that even the Caribbean fashion designers are holding their own alongside other international fashion designers,” Gondwe told CMC.
“So, I would say, if you look at it, film, music, sports, even gastronomy, there are key areas that have got a huge upside potential for growth in the Caribbean region.”
He noted that sports are big in the Caribbean, making specific reference to cricket and track and field.
“These are all sub-sectors of the creative industries that, if well managed and well supported, have the potential to contribute to the regional economy really significantly.”
Gondwe, however, also saw opportunities for collaboration with Africa, noting that there is nothing that stops a designer or film producer in the Caribbean from producing their work in Africa and the Caribbean.
“So being here as part of that and being part of those conversations is going to ensure that these sectors that, at the moment, are only showing potential, in due time, will really realise the gains tangibly from an economic perspective,” Gondwe told CMC.
One of the concerns for creatives in the Caribbean is funding. Gondwe said Afreximbank provides financing for creatives, and that the bank has a $2 billion facility targeted at the music, film, and other sub-sectors of the creative industry.
“So those are loans, can be guarantees, advisory services, and so on,” he said, adding that Afreximbank works with a lot of financial intermediaries to execute.
“And those conversations are also being had with financial intermediaries in the Caribbean, because we do know that creatives need to access funding. It’s like having a seed without water to nourish it. So financing is significant.”
Beyond debt, the bank is providing equity through CANEX Creations Incorporated, the investment part of CANEX.
“… we realize that in some cases, it might not be debt, it might be they might need equity, might need a bit of investment to push the brand forward because most of our businesses in the creative industries are small, most of them are informal, so the traditional means of supporting industry might not apply in the creative industries.”
Gondwe said Afreximbank is looking at ways to bank creatives, saying “grants are not something that we are big on as a bank, but where we do provide some minimal grants.
He said Afreximbank looks at establishments in the creative industries as viable commercial entities and their owners as entrepreneurs.
“So, we’re providing solutions that are tailored to ensure that we’re able to meet the creatives at a point where we can help them grow their businesses, given their limitations and challenges that they’re facing.”
He said that, for example, Afreximbank would support the pre-production, production, and post-production of films, as well as the production and distribution of fashion.
“So, you look at even in some cases, factoring supply chain financing and so on. So while looking at all these, we look at all these different types of approaches to providing financing, given the peculiarities in the creative and cultural industries.”
Gondwe said such partnerships between Africa and the Caribbean are possible.
“There’s nothing that is really stopping it. It’s not really a question of logistics,” he said even as he acknowledged the importance of air and sea links.
“Look, centuries ago, we had the slave trade. They crossed the seas, and it was a painful episode in our lives. You fast-forward today, we have no excuse,” Gondwe said, noting the possibilities provided by modern technology.
“You can produce a movie here and a movie in Africa and connect them. Collaboration can happen in almost any sector at the moment, whether it’s animation, whether it’s literature, whether it’s sports, whether it’s gastronomy, we can collaborate,” Gondwe explained.
He said Afreximbank is using platforms such as CARIFESTA, the Africa, Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum, and the Inter-African Trade Fair (IATF) to address the knowledge gap.
IATF 2025 is scheduled to take place in Algeria from September 4 to 10 and is expected to bring together over 2,000 exhibitors and more than 35,000 visitors.
“It is a massive marketplace for Africa. This year, for the second time, at ITF, we also observe Global African Diaspora Day, focusing on the relationship between Africa and its diaspora, including the Caribbean.
“The private sector here, the creatives here, the creators may not know who their counterparts in Africa are. Similarly, creatives on the continent may not be aware of their counterparts in CARICOM. To address this knowledge gap, we have platforms like the intra-African Trade Fair, which brings together buyers and sellers from all over the world across various sectors, allowing them to connect. They can network and establish business connections,” Gondwe said.
He noted that heads of state from the Caribbean and Africa will be speaking at the forum.
“There will be a focus on gastronomy, the food that we share; there will be a focus on our exhibition, the goods that we’re selling to each other, and there’ll be an opportunity to expand into each other’s markets, because we have brought the different players from the different sectors under one canopy, and ensuring that we deal once and for all with the trade information problem,” he told CMC.
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