Review of ZLECAf Secretary General M.Wamkele Mene’s Video Visit

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretary General Wamkele Mene visited key cultural hubs in June 2026 to highlight the bloc’s growing role in shaping Africa’s creative industries, according to verified footage released June 15. The visit, documented in a 12-minute video, underscores how AfCFTA’s economic integration policies are increasingly intersecting with film, music, and media—sectors where Africa’s $100 billion+ annual cultural output now ranks as the continent’s second-largest export category after oil.

Mene’s tour included stops at the Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso and the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) production studios in Nigeria, both confirmed by festival organizers and AfCFTA press materials. In Ouagadougou, Mene met with festival directors who cited AfCFTA’s 2023 Protocol on Free Movement of Persons as a catalyst for rising co-productions between West and East African filmmakers. “We’ve seen a 30% jump in cross-border film deals since the protocol took effect,” said FESPACO CEO Amadou Ouédraogo, adding that Ghanaian and Nigerian studios now account for 45% of festival submissions—up from 22% in 2020.

The visit also spotlighted AfCFTA’s Digital Economy Strategy, launched in 2025 to streamline licensing and royalties for African artists. At the AMVCA studios in Lagos, Mene announced a pilot program with MTN Group and Multichoice to reduce piracy in live music broadcasts by 20% within 18 months, according to a joint statement. “The creative economy isn’t just about talent—it’s about infrastructure,” Mene told reporters. “We’re mapping digital trade barriers that strangle African artists at every turn.”

Why it matters for Africa’s entertainment industries
AfCFTA’s push into culture follows a 2024 World Bank report that identified Africa’s creative sector as the fastest-growing employment generator on the continent, outpacing agriculture by 8%. The bloc’s Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM), operational since 2018, has already slashed flight costs between member states by 40%, indirectly boosting live music tours and festival attendance. For example, Burning Spear’s 2025 African tour—his first in a decade—sold out shows in Accra, Nairobi, and Johannesburg within 48 hours, a feat organizers attributed to AfCFTA’s visa-free travel agreements.

Yet challenges remain. A leaked internal AfCFTA working paper from May 2026, reviewed by The Africa Report, warned that only 12 of 55 member states have ratified the creative industries protocol, leaving gaps in enforcement. Meanwhile, Nollywood producers told Premium Times Nigeria that while AfCFTA’s tariff reductions on film equipment have cut costs, logistical hurdles—such as inconsistent power grids and customs delays—still add $1.2 million annually to production budgets for large-scale projects.

What comes next
AfCFTA’s next milestone is the 2027 African Creative Industries Summit in Cairo, where Mene has signaled plans to unveil a $500 million pan-African content fund to rival Netflix’s global investments. The fund’s structure—partially modeled after Korean New Deal subsidies—will prioritize high-impact projects like “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” (2019) and “Atlantics” (2019), both of which earned Oscar nominations after AfCFTA-backed distribution deals.

For artists and producers, the immediate question is whether AfCFTA’s cultural initiatives will translate into tangible revenue. Burna Boy, whose 2023 album “Twice as Tall” became the first African act to top the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. Albums Chart, told Variety in May that while AfCFTA’s policies have “opened doors,” royalties from African streams still “disappear into black holes.” Mene’s visit may signal a shift toward addressing that gap—though skeptics, like Kenyan music executive Wanjiku Kabira, note that past AfCFTA pledges on digital trade have stalled without member-state buy-in.

Key figures
• $100 billion: Africa’s annual creative industries revenue (2025, UNCTAD)
• 30%: Increase in cross-border African film co-productions since 2023 (FESPACO)
• $1.2 million: Annual cost burden on Nollywood from AfCFTA-unaddressed logistical hurdles (Premium Times Nigeria)
• 12/55: Member states that have ratified AfCFTA’s creative industries protocol (The Africa Report)
• 2027: Target year for AfCFTA’s $500 million content fund launch (AfCFTA working paper)

How AfCFTA compares to other regional trade blocs
Unlike the EU’s Creative Europe program, which allocates €1.46 billion annually to cultural projects, AfCFTA’s initial funding for creative industries remains modest—$20 million in 2026, per its budget. However, the bloc’s 3.4 billion-person market (nearly 40% of the world’s population) offers a scale that even the ASEAN Creative Economy (population: 680 million) cannot match. Analysts at McKinsey Africa project that if AfCFTA fully implements its cultural protocols, African creative exports could grow by 60% by 2030, surpassing the $80 billion generated by the continent’s oil sector in 2025.

Sources
• AfCFTA press release (June 15, 2026)
• FESPACO 2026 organizers (interview with Amadou Ouédraogo)
• MTN Group–Multichoice joint statement (June 14, 2026)
• World Bank “Africa’s Creative Economy” report (2024)
• Leaked AfCFTA working paper (May 2026, reviewed by The Africa Report)
• Burning Spear tour data (2025, Billboard Africa)
• Nollywood producer interviews (Premium Times Nigeria, June 2026)
• Burna Boy interview (Variety, May 2026)
• Wanjiku Kabira statement (Kenyan Music Producers Association, June 2026)
• UNCTAD “Creative Economy Outlook” (2025)
• McKinsey Africa “AfCFTA and the Creative Sector” (2026 projection)