Accra set to host maiden AfCFTA Forum & Festival ‘Creatives Connect Afrika’

Ghana is set to welcome the continent’s leading policymakers, investors, creative entrepreneurs, and cultural industry stakeholders as it hosts the maiden ‘AfCFTA Forum and Festival on Tourism, Creative and Cultural Industries’, branded Creatives Connect Afrika, from Monday 24th to Wednesday 26th November 2025 at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra.

Organised by the AfCFTA Secretariat in partnership with the Government of Ghana through the Black Star Experience Secretariat and Africa Tourism Partners (ATP), the event forms part of a strategic agenda to position Africa’s creative economy as a high-value driver of trade, investment, and industrialisation under the AfCFTA.

The forum is being held under the auspices of H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, and the leadership of H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat.

AfCFTA: Policy, mobility and prosperity

According to Mrs. Emily Mburu-Ndoria, Director of Trade in Services, Investment, IPR, and Digital Trade at the AfCFTA Secretariat, the forum represents a major step in aligning the creative sector with the trade agreement’s protocols. “For too long, the immense cultural value created in Lagos, Dakar, Nairobi, and Cairo has struggled to traverse African borders due to fragmented policies and prohibitive laws and regulations,” explained Ms. Mburu-Ndoria.

“Creatives Connect Afrika is the intervention point. It is where policymakers and creatives sit down to unlock movement and mobility for artists, and establish financial instruments that understand and invest in creative intellectual property.” She commended Ghana for partnering the AfCFTA Secretariat to host this very important event.

A national mandate backed by government

Rex Owusu Marfo (Rex Omar), Presidential Staffer and Coordinator of the Black Star Experience Secretariat, emphasised the significance of Ghana hosting this inaugural event: “The Black Star Experience is a deliberate strategy to position Ghana as Africa’s cultural hub. Hosting Creatives Connect Afrika in collaboration with the AfCFTA and ATP allows us to take this vision continental by building the structures creatives need to trade across a 1.4 billion-person market.”

Tourism as the gateway to creative trade

Kwakye Donkor, CEO of Africa Tourism Partners, highlighted how the event leverages tourism infrastructure to drive trade: “Tourism monetises cultural experiences immediately.

By integrating a high-level policy forum with a festival, we create a compelling reason for investors, buyers, and travellers to come to Ghana and spend. We are building the travel and logistics pipeline that supports the creative value chain.”

Forum and festival programme overview

The three-day Creatives Connect Afrika Forum and Festival features a rich blend of masterclasses, policy dialogues, business matchmaking, and cultural showcases. Day One is dedicated to industry-led Masterclasses in Film, Fashion, Music, and Fintech, delivered by leading experts from across Africa.

Sessions focus on strengthening the creative value chain, intellectual property, digital distribution, financing, and intra-African market access under the AfCFTA.

Day Two features the Official Opening Ceremony, with keynote addresses from high-level dignitaries including the John Dramani Mahama, and Wamkele Mene.

The day continues with thought-leadership panels on expanding Africa’s creative economy through tourism, digital innovation, and policy alignment. It also includes film screenings, cultural performances, and expert dialogues on unlocking investment opportunities in Film, Fashion, and Music.

he entire programme is designed to merge policy, commerce, and culture – connecting creatives, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders to drive trade, mobility, and economic growth across Africa’s creative and cultural industries.

The cultural centerpiece of the event includes the Creatives Connect Afrika Runway, a premium showcase for African fashion designers, and the grand finale Cultural Night & Musical Festival, where attendees are encouraged to wear traditional attire for an evening of electrifying performances to take place at the 233 Jazz Club in Accra.

Creatives Connect Afrika is positioned not just as a festival, but as the inaugural continental policy and marketplace platform designed to unlock the economic potential of Africa’s creative industries.

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