Creative Futures Africa Summit: From unseen to unstoppable

From left: Marie Lora Mungayi, Malibongwe Nzuza, Beth Arendse, Wakiuru Njuguna, Gladwyn Leeuw

The Summit highlighted the vital role of the creative industries in driving inclusive growth, job creation, and innovation. Participants shared a collective commitment to shifting narratives from invisibility to impact, ensuring African creatives are recognised, supported, and empowered to lead change across sectors and borders.

A key focus of the Summit was leveraging creativity as a driver of inclusive growth. Delegates identified seven strategic interventions to advance Africa’s creative economy: infrastructure investment, data sovereignty, innovative financing models, intellectual property frameworks, policy coordination, mobility facilitation, and climate integration. These outcomes have been submitted to the G20’s C20 and B20 tracks, ensuring Africa’s perspectives are heard in global economic and policy discussions.

Basa’s participation in the Summit is crucial. As a systems enabler and ecosystem builder, Basa ensures that South African creatives are represented, that partnerships across business and the arts are strengthened, and that Africa’s creative economy is positioned as a strategic driver of innovation, cultural value, and sustainable growth.

The next phase, a 900-day transformation window, offers a decisive opportunity to turn commitments into action, particularly in infrastructure development, policy alignment, and ownership of Africa’s creative and data ecosystems. As world leaders deliberate on trade, technology, and innovation, Africa’s creative community is defining its own future, grounded in cultural capital, collaboration, and collective ambition.

As this year’s Summit concludes, planning is already underway for the next Creative Futures Africa Summit, which will expand the conversation, deepen impact, and translate commitments into measurable outcomes for Africa’s creative economy.

From unseen to unstoppable – Africa’s creative future is in motion.

For more information, updates, and partnership opportunities ahead of the next Summit, visit https://creativefuturesafrica.basa.co.za or follow @CreativeFuturesAfrica on social media.