Twenty years ago, African leaders adopted the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance. It was an important statement of intent: culture was to be protected, promoted and placed more deliberately within Africa’s development.
Two decades later, perhaps the most useful way to mark the anniversary is not simply to celebrate it, but to ask what has changed.
There has certainly been progress. The language around culture has shifted considerably. Creative industries now feature more prominently in conversations about jobs, entrepreneurship, trade, technology and Africa’s development. Governments are developing creative economy strategies and funds, new cultural institutions and programmes are emerging, and African music, film, fashion and other creative sectors are reaching markets that would have been difficult to imagine in 2006.
But recognition should not be confused with transformation.
The Charter itself illustrates the challenge. Adopted in 2006, it took until 2020 to secure the 15 ratifications required to enter into force. When the African Union marked its entry into force in 2021, only 15 Member States had ratified it, while 34 had signed.
The wider sector presents a similar picture. We have strong continental ambitions, but implementation remains uneven. Cultural institutions in many countries remain under-resourced. Creative businesses continue to struggle with financing models that do not understand intellectual property or irregular revenue. Copyright systems do not always translate into income for creators. And perhaps most fundamentally, we still do not know enough about our own cultural economies.
That last point matters. In August 2026, UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics again highlighted the importance of reliable and internationally comparable cultural data for understanding the contribution of cultural and creative industries to growth, employment and sustainable development. Twenty years after the Charter, evidence should no longer be an afterthought to cultural policy.
So, have we succeeded?
I think the answer is neither yes nor no. We have succeeded in establishing culture as an important part of Africa’s development conversation. The next test is whether that recognition changes the systems around the sector.
The coming decade needs to be about implementation: more countries ratifying and domestically applying the Charter; cultural policies backed by budgets and measurable implementation plans; stronger cultural institutions; better data systems; financing instruments designed for creative businesses; functioning rights and royalty systems; and greater connection between national creative economies and African markets.
The African Union already identifies markets, finance and investment, intellectual property, technology, infrastructure, statistics and skills among the areas requiring action in the creative industries.
Twenty years is long enough to establish ambition.
The question for the next twenty should be much more practical: what will it take to implement it?