The Missing Investment Behind Africa’s Creative Exports
Across Africa, considerable attention is given to discovering, nurturing and celebrating creative talent. Far less attention is paid to what happens after an artist has already succeeded at home. That is where the next challenge begins. Recent reflections on innovation and markets in the cultural and creative industries raise an important point: an idea, product […]
Twenty Years of the Charter for African Cultural Renaissance: What Do We Have to Show for It?
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 […]
African Union Day: Where Does Culture Sit in the Africa We Want?
Today, 9 September, we mark African Union Day, commemorating the 1999 Sirte Declaration that set in motion the process leading to the establishment of the African Union. More than two decades later, the idea of African integration continues to evolve. Agenda 2063 imagines a prosperous, integrated and peaceful continent, driven by its own citizens and […]
If African Languages Are Missing from AI, What Exactly Are We Preserving?
Across Africa, a growing number of initiatives are trying to address one of the continent’s most important digital gaps: the underrepresentation of African languages in artificial intelligence. The 2026 LINGUA Africa Open Call, backed by Microsoft AI for Good Lab, the Gates Foundation, Masakhane African Languages Hub and Google.org, invited African-led projects to develop datasets, […]
What the Data Reveals About South Sudan’s Music Sector
The launch of South Sudan’s first music baseline study marks an important step towards understanding a sector that has long been visible through its talent, but far less visible through data. The study was commissioned by the Ghines Foundation, conducted by ORECA, and developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Heritage and Museums and […]