Lagos is set to host thousands of creatives, investors, policymakers and buyers from Africa and the diaspora as Afreximbank’s Creative Africa Nexus Weekend, CANEX WKND 2026, holds from November 5 to 8.
The four-day event at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, National Theatre Complex, Iganmu, is expected to create new opportunities for Nigerian creative businesses to access finance, partnerships and international markets.
Organised by the African Export-Import Bank in partnership with the Federal Government, African Union Commission and AfCFTA Secretariat, the event will bring together players across film, music, fashion, literature, visual arts, gastronomy and sport.
The programme will feature the CANEX Finance Summit and Deal Room, film competition, Jollof Wars, music songwriting camp, Junior Chefs Competition, fashion show and awards, mega concert and a legends football match.
The CANEX Deal Room is expected to be a major focus, giving creative entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch projects to financiers and investors.
Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Kanayo Awani, said the event was designed to help African creatives turn their talent into commercially viable businesses.
“CANEX WKND provides an important platform for converting Africa’s creative talent into sustainable commercial opportunities,” Awani said.
She added that hosting the event in Lagos was significant because of Nigeria’s influence in music, film, fashion, literature and other creative sectors.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, said the event would strengthen Nigeria’s position as a creative and commercial centre.
“Our creative industries are an important source of enterprise, employment and exports,” Oduwole said, adding that stronger links between talent, investment and markets were needed to unlock the sector’s economic potential.
The event will be held under the theme, “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World: From FESTAC ’77 to CANEX’27”.
It will also draw on the legacy of FESTAC ’77 as Nigeria prepares to mark the 50th anniversary of the cultural festival in 2027.
The Lagos edition follows CANEX WKND 2024 in Algiers, where more than $540 million in deals were facilitated and agreed, with nearly 4,000 participants from 81 countries attending.
Afreximbank has committed $2 billion to support Africa’s creative industries between 2024 and 2027, according to the organisers.
CANEX WKND 2026 will also serve as a test run for the Intra-African Trade Fair 2027, which Nigeria is scheduled to host in November next year.
The wider trade fair is expected to provide another platform for Nigerian and other African businesses, including creative enterprises, to build commercial partnerships and access new markets.
Discussion0