Africa’s creative economy leaders, investors and policymakers converge in Johannesburg on 16 and 17 September 2026 for the second Creative Futures Africa Summit, an invitation-only gathering building on last year’s G20-linked launch. Where the inaugural 2025 Summit established a set of strategic priorities for the sector, the 2026 edition pushes those priorities towards implementation: identifying where capital, policy and infrastructure need to move first.
The timing of the event is symbolic, falling just under a fortnight after the United Nations adopted the Equal Earth map, correcting the long-standing distortion that shrank the African continent on the world map – a fitting parallel for a Summit built on establishing the creative economy’s true scale.
Africa’s median age is 20 (compared to 30 globally), and the continent’s 1.3 billion consumers sit alongside a creative economy valued at US$59 billion (BCG, 2026). More than 90% of workers in sub-Saharan Africa are in informal employment (ILO, 2026 Employment and Social Trends report), and creative industries, with lower barriers to entry and more agility than most sectors, are well positioned to absorb this workforce, provided they have connectivity, mobility and organisation behind them. Afreximbank has already committed US$3 billion to the creative economy and other financiers are following. The Creative Futures Africa Summit is a catalyst for the structures to deploy that capital.
Strategic priorities
The 2025 Summit produced a set of strategic priorities for the sector. Among them are investment readiness and access to capital, intellectual property as a financial asset, a unified African position on AI governance and data sovereignty, and cross-border trade and mobility for creative goods. The full list of priorities and how each maps to this year’s programme, is available on the Summit’s website.
Speakers from across the continent
The programme draws on finance, policy and market-building expertise from across Africa and beyond. Speakers include: George Gachara, founder of HEVA Fund and a CANEX board member, on unlocking capital for creative businesses; Luthando Vuba, an international trade and financial services executive at Standard Bank, on financing structures for cross-border creative trade; Marie Lora-Mungai, a creative economy finance and investment strategist, on what investment-readiness looks like in practice; Dr Mohamed Abdel Dayem, former Assistant Minister for Investment and Development at Egypt’s Ministry of Culture, on policy models from elsewhere on the continent; Sthembiso Dlamini, CEO of the Gauteng Tourism Authority, on linking the creative and tourism economies; and Henry Mathys, V&A Waterfront’s Strategic Programme Manager, on private sector investment in creative infrastructure. A full speaker list and biographies are available on the Summit website.
Outcomes
Post-summit, Creative Futures Africa will issue its 2026 report, refining the priorities into an agenda that creative economy stakeholders can act on directly.
Beth Arendse, BASA CEO and Creative Futures Africa co-founder, said: “The opportunity in Africa’s creative economy is no longer in question. What is needed now is systemic thinking about how we unlock it. Creativity operates through interconnected networks, and our systems of policy, finance and investment need to reflect that reality. The potential is here. Our task now is to build the infrastructure that allows Africa to unlock and retain its value.”
“Johannesburg has always been a city of ideas, ambition and people who make things happen. Its creative economy is no different. Our partnership with BASA for the second edition of the Creative Futures Africa Summit is about helping turn that energy into opportunity and connecting creatives to investment, markets, infrastructure and the networks they need to grow. If we want Africa’s creative economy to realise its full potential, Johannesburg has a vital role to play, and Jozi My Jozi is proud to be an integral part of that journey,” says Dawn Roberson, Visitor & Creative Economy Catalyst at Jozi My Jozi and Creative Futures Africa co-founder.
Creative Futures Africa is a project of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) and Jozi my Jozi, supported by Andani.Africa and Creative Capital. They are represented on the programme by Beth Arendse (BASA), Dawn Robertson (Jozi My Jozi), Molemo Moiloa and Lonwabo Mavuso (Andani.Africa) and Ninel Musson (Creative Capital).