CANEX WKND holds in Lagos Nov 5–8 to turn Afrobeats and Nollywood fame into deals
- Afreximbank and partners will host CANEX WKND at the Wole Soyinka Centre in Lagos from November 5 to 8.
- The 2024 edition in Algiers drew nearly 4,000 participants and produced deals worth over $540 million, the bank said.
- Organisers want creators to earn more from African music, film and fashion, not just win global attention.
African music, film and fashion are known around the world, but the people who make them often earn little from that fame. A four-day gathering in Lagos aims to change that.
CANEX WKND will hold from November 5 to 8, 2026 at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in Lagos. It is organised by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), with the Federal Government, the African Union Commission and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.
The theme is “One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World: From FESTAC ’77 to CANEX ’27”. It links the 1977 black and African arts festival hosted in Lagos to next year's 50th anniversary.
For ordinary Nigerians, the stakes are jobs and income. Music, film, fashion, publishing, design, food and sport can create work and bring in foreign money, but only if creators keep a fair share of what their work earns.
From visibility to money
Afrobeats and Nollywood have won audiences abroad. Yet a hit song does not automatically pay the artist well if there is no business structure to collect royalties, protect copyright and reach markets.
Organisers say the event is meant to connect creative businesses with investors, financiers and policymakers, not just to stage performances.
They point to the 2024 edition in Algiers, Algeria, held from October 16 to 19. According to Afreximbank, it drew nearly 4,000 participants from 81 countries, had 108 exhibitors and produced agreed deals worth more than $540 million.
Those deals included a €245 million facility with New World Television to help part-finance its purchase of sports broadcasting rights in 24 African countries. The bank also announced a $3 million facility for Mediwood Studios to support Tunisia's film industry.
At a pitch session, Cameroonian designer Kibonen Nfi received a $250,000 pledge from investor Moji Hunponu-Wusu, while a group committed another $100,000 involving Nfi and Zimbabwean designers Pam Samasuwo-Nyawiri and Thulani Ngazimbi.
Afreximbank says it has set aside $2 billion for Africa's creative industries between 2024 and 2027.
What happens next
The Lagos edition will host a finance summit and deal room where creative businesses can pitch to investors. The test will be whether the meetings turn into signed deals and accessible loans, especially for small operators who often struggle to borrow because their main assets are ideas and copyright.
Culture journalist Jahman Anikulapo, editorial director of Naija Times, said FESTAC showed culture could unite people across borders and affirmed African heritage. The question for Lagos is whether this gathering leaves behind lasting businesses, not just a colourful week.
