FOCUS Musique & Innovation / Creation Africa
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  • Project support
  • Networking

Creation Africa

  • Architecture
  • Visual Arts / Photography
  • Cinema
  • Digital creation
  • Book
  • Crafts / Design
  • Performing arts / Music

Thanks to funding from the Fonds Équipe France Création (FEF Création) of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Institut français is giving shape to the dynamics of partnership transformation with the African continent. It is implementing the ambitious Création Africa program to support African Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) and broaden France's scope of action to new partnerships on the continent.

The Création Africa program was launched in October 2023 with the organization of a forum of the same name dedicated to African CCIs at the Gaîté Lyrique, which had brought together over 300 African and French professionals from the sector. In its first year of operation in 2023, the program aimed to provide on-the-ground support to start-up entrepreneurs in 16 priority countries across the continent. In 2024, the list has been extended to 33 eligible countries.

  • Listen to the "La fabrique : Création Africa" episode of the Sources Diplomatiques podcast, produced by teams from the ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères.

The Institut français is also a founding member of the GIP, responsible for creating the Maison des Mondes Africains - MansA. This place, both real and virtual, will be entirely dedicated to African thought and creativity and to that, carried in France, by all those interested in Africa.

Priority countries

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, South Africa, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Mauritius, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Chad, Togo, Tunisia

Beneficiaries

  • CCI players in Africa and France (entrepreneurs, project leaders, associative players etc.);
  • French cultural network in Africa;
  • French team operators: Institut français Paris, cultural network, AFD, Expertise France, BPI France, other cultural operators, private partners etc.
Création Africa connects African and European CCI players

The French Institute is contributing to the Création Africa program with a project aimed at supporting future-oriented sectors: digital creation, fashion, audiovisual creation and series, immersive realities, music...

Création Africa unfolds in three parts

<1 / The development of the Création Africa platform, dedicated to professionals in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) in Africa and France

The Création Africa platform is a website and webapp, developed by the French Institute and dedicated to professionals in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) in Africa and France.

It aims to foster networking and future partnerships through the creation of a community of African and French CCI players.

The platform creates a space where cultural entrepreneurs can:

  • Access calls for projects, funding opportunities and useful resources
  • Join a community of creative and committed players
  • Present their initiatives to a wide audience

A pre-registration page is now launched. Pre-register now and be among the first to discover its features!

2 / Contributing to the structuring of local cultural industries and the development of partnerships with French CCIs

This second component of the Création Africa program is deployed through several activities aimed at structuring sectoral industries and networking CCI players through

through:

  • An ambitious work mapping the development of CCIs in Africa, which will identify the major continental trends as well as the main players in the development of the various cultural sectors in Africa.
  • A mentoring program, which offers tailored support to a dozen or so young cultural entrepreneurs with the aim of accelerating their structuring and development, as well as giving them visibility to facilitate their access to partners, investors and professional networks.

through the creation or financing of projects and the networking of players:

  • The eSport sector: the Création Africa program supports two 100% women's eSport competitions as well as coaching players from several African countries. The Swahili eSports champions Competition in Nairobi took place from November 17 to 19, 2023 and a second competition is scheduled for autumn 2024. (find out more)
  • Digital art sector: the Création Africa program is supporting a collective, touring exhibition of 10 NFT artists from Africa, curated by Anna-Alix Koffi. This exhibition will be inaugurated at the Dakar Biennale 2024 and then presented at the Something Art Space in Abidjan and other African cities (find out more).
  • Parcours Création Cinéma:the Institut français is consolidating its commitment to African cinema by stepping up support for the continent's cinema labs. The "Parcours Création Cinéma" aims to encourage new narratives and consolidate local production by African filmmakers by supporting ten African structures, including three dedicated to animation, comprising two festivals and a training venue. (find out more)
  • the Marché des Arts du Spectacle d'Afrique (MASA), from April 13 to 20, 2024, through a grant and support for the mobility of players in the continent's ICC sectors thanks to the creation of a MASA mobility fund (find out more);
  • the Biennale de Dakar as an official partner thanks to support for the curators' exhibition (find out more).
  • the Récréâtrales festival in Ouagadougou, from September 16 to November 2 (find out more)
  • Film & Series sector: 40 African audiovisual professionals have been invited to the Festival Séries Mania 2024 in Lille (find out more) and 34 African film professionals are invited to the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2025 (find out more)
  • Music sector: some 30 African music professionals have been invited to Paris and to the Festival Babel Music XP in Marseille (find out more). On the occasion of MaMA Music & Convention in October 2024, a dozen African industry professionals are invited to Paris for a course dedicated to music publishing "African publishing - Creation Africa" (find out more). Some twenty French and African professionals have been invited to Acces Music Conference in Kigali, on a program dedicated to music and innovation (more).
  • Comics / webtoon industry: some twenty African industry professionals were invited to a FOCUS program in Paris, Angoulême, the Rencontres Internationales de la BD and the "Quai des bulles" festival in Saint Malo (find out more). A dozen French industry professionals were invited to a mobility program at the Bilili festival in Brazzaville (find out more).
  • Contemporary art sector: 10 African contemporary art professionals were invited to the Biennale de Venise 2024 (find out more).
  • Video games sector: 18 African video game professionals are invited to the Gamescom in Cologne (find out more).

3 / Supporting the French cultural network abroad in implementing the agenda policy for transforming the relationship between France and Africa

This third component involves setting up and leading a "cultural entrepreneurship" community of interest within the French cultural network abroad, in order to federate posts (SCACs, Instituts français and Alliances françaises) and lead a sectoral dialogue.

Mobility programs for French professionals are also planned for major African events and markets.

The projects