Afrique Créative is an incubation programme designed to structure the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in Africa. By supporting and strengthening the capacities of selected entrepreneurs, Afrique Créative aims to support sustainable growth that will bring change.
Afrique Créative is an incubation programme designed to structure the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in Africa. By supporting and strengthening the capacities of selected entrepreneurs, Afrique Créative aims to support sustainable growth that will bring change.
A Bootcamp focused on Afrique Créative companies’ scale-up
Due to the global health crisis, Afrique Créative adjusted its second bootcamp format: it was held on a digital platform from November 25 to 27, 2020. Although virtual, the exchanges were vivid and animated!
Companies with a strong social and economic impact
The ‘Afrique Créative’ creative companies are fundamental actors of their local ecosystems: instigators of inclusiveness, providers of economic stability, and catalysts of skills.
Entrepreneurs Dedicated to their Cultural Heritage
The Afrique Créative program entrepreneurs are dedicated to keep their respective countries’ cultural sector alive and dynamic, each of them with various and diverse tools.
Combine Business Development and a positive Environmental Impact
“Afrique Créative” program’s entrepreneurs stand out for their willingness to show us that the goods and services production does not necessarily lead to our natural resources’ depletion.
A race to creativity and development for our entrepreneurs !
These last three months have been a real challenge for our entrepreneurs in terms of business recovery. The cultural sector, in their respective countries, remains strongly shaked by the global health crisis. Through determination, the Afrique Créative’s entrepreneurs manage to create, disseminate their production and improve their impact on their ecosystem.
Afrique Créative, a consortium of 4 brillant and motivated organizations
Afrique Créative consists of a set of activities to support the development of cultural and creative businesses in four African countries. This programme would not exist without the Agence Française de Développement’s funding and the active participation of a consortium formed by Africalia, Bayimba, Investisseurs et Partenaires and Zhu Culture.
Business mentors prepare the entrepreneurs to raise funds
In addition to creative mentoring and e-learning sessions, Afrique Créative offers the entrepreneurs a one-year "business" coaching to improve the management of their company and boost their turnover. 9 mentors have already provided more than 320 hours of coaching adapted to the realities of each mentee.
Within 6 months, 10 different speakers prepared 16 e-learning sessions and covered various topics related to entrepreneurship in the African cultural sector. These discussions enabled the entrepreneurs to improve their knowledge on management and marketing tools, but also to share their experiences and consider new options.
The creative mentors guide the incubees to new horizons
The coaching of entrepreneurs by experts of their sector is an important element of the Afrique Créative programme. These experts include nine creative mentors. Their objective is to assist the incubees on the artistic dimensions of their business. From the diversification of activities to the development of specific projects and brand positioning, the entrepreneurs’ evolution is clear and the mentors’ feedback is very positive.
In Senegal, entrepreneurs aim to create jobs for youths
Although they are operating in different sectors, Senegalese entrepreneurs supported by Afrique Créative have a common goal: to create employment for young people. Optimiste Produktions targets young lovers of urban culture in Rufisque; and Karoninka focuses on young women in Senegal’s remote areas to train them in audiovisual professions. To finance the training, these companies offer among other things production services and quality equipment rentals.
Facing the coronavirus, only one motto: Stay optimistic!
Despite the health crisis, Afrique Créative’s entrepreneurs are particularly inventive. Always positive, they have decided to turn difficulties into opportunities!
Entrepreneurs Involved in Promoting Moroccan Culture
In Morocco, the entrepreneurs supported by Afrique Créative are involved in a large variety of sectors. However, they all have a common goal: to promote Moroccan and African culture. Langages du Sud achieves this by adapting its youth collection Lina and Adam into an animated series. Anya, for its part, is organizing Visa For Music new edition which will be linked to the election of Rabat as African Capital of Culture for 2020.
In Burkina Faso, strongly invested teams in accelerating their companies’ growth!
The Burkinabe entrepreneurs supported by Afrique Créative share several similarities: they work as a team, offer their clients unique and stylish products, participate in international events and are very motivated to boost their businesses’ growth. Discover their latest major achievements:
2020 is starting well for the Ugandan entrepreneurs of Afrique Créative
As we announced, 2020 will be a year full of creativity and entrepreneurship for the winners of Afrique Créative. No one can reflect better on this than the three incubated companies in Uganda. Numerous activities have already been carried out.
2020, a year full of creativity and entrepreneurship!
Following the Ouagadougou Bootcamp, Afrique Créative’s entrepreneurs revised their action plans in order to boost their companies’ growth and increase their social and economic impact. Discover their interesting ideas and talent in their project in this overview….
First boost for Afrique Créative : Back on Ouagadougou Bootcamp!
The Afrique Créative incubation journey began with a week of residential workshops in Ouagadougou from 21 to 25 October 2019, in La Ruche. This "bootcamp" brought together the nine selected creative entrepreneurs, as well as the members of the Afrique Créative consortium.
The call for applications aimed to identify cultural and creative entrepreneurs from Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda who will take part in the Afrique Créative acceleration programme.
This programme aims to promote the structuring of the cultural and creative ecosystem by boosting the development, the skill sets and the networking of companies active in this sector. Afrique Créative addresses operators combining both creativity and entrepreneurship in order to maximize their potential in terms of job creation and economic growth.
As an industrial sector still largely untapped in Africa, the cultural and creative field occurs as an important economic lever. Cultural and creative industries are vectors of social innovation and generate impact within their communities. Because its resources are non-polluting and inexhaustible, this sector represents an opportunity to build a fairer and more sustainable world!
Afrique Créative, in practice
Tools Trainings Mentoring Financial support
What is it about? An ambitious incubation and capacity building programme to accelerate the development of the selected entrepreneurs.
For whom? It adresses cultural and creative companies
Where? In four countries: Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda
When? The incubation will take place from September 2019 to December 2020
At stake?
Online training and two bootcamps (residential)
Resources, tools and methodologies for improved business models
Regular mentoring by "creative" mentors from the « business » world
Peer reviews and exchange journeys
Specific support for fundraising
Financial support to develop your organisation: between 75,000 and 125,000 Euros
How to apply? By responding to the Call for Applications on the website, open from June 8th to August 15th, 2019
Afrique Créative, the stakeholders
AFD Africalia I & P Zhuculture Bayimba
Afrique Créative is financed by the French Development Agency (AFD)…
The AFD group finances, accompanies and accelerates transitions towards a fairer and more sustainable world. Climate, biodiversity, peace, education, culture, employment… : the teams are involved in over 4000 projects in Overseas France and 110 countries. By doing so, the AFD contributes to the commitment of France and the French people to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
…and implemented by an international consortium led by Africalia :
Africalia has been teaming up with artists and organisations working in a wide range of contemporary disciplines. Its mission is to support, collaborate with, structure and build networks of artists in order to put culture and creativity at the centre of economical innovation and social transformation in Africa. Besides, Africalia also mobilises the Belgian cultural sector so as to draw the attention of its audiences to African creativity.
Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) is an impact investing group focusing exclusively on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on the African continent. I&P combines four pan-African funds representing 125 million euros, and has supported more than 90 SMEs based in 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Zhu Culture, a cultural engineering consultancy based in Senegal, has more than 20 years of experience and knowledge of the CCI sector. Zhu Culture supports several artists and is regularly approached by creative organisations in French- and English-speaking countries in Africa.
Bayimba Foundation is a cultural production organisation based in Uganda. Bayimba has a very extensive network in the local creative sector and has hosted creative initiatives (including festivals, workshops, individual artists and creative collectives) for over a decade.
Other partners: Jokkolabs, Design Hub Kampala, CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers).
About us
Afrique Créative, in a few words
CCI Incubation Entrepreneurship Innovation
This programme aims to promote the structuring of the cultural and creative ecosystem by boosting the development, the skill sets and the networking of companies active in this sector. Afrique Créative addresses operators combining both creativity and entrepreneurship in order to maximize their potential in terms of job creation and economic growth.
As an industrial sector still largely untapped in Africa, the cultural and creative field occurs as an important economic lever. Cultural and creative industries are vectors of social innovation and generate impact within their communities. Because its resources are non-polluting and inexhaustible, this sector represents an opportunity to build a fairer and more sustainable world!
Afrique Créative, in practice
Tools Trainings Mentoring Financial support
What is it about? An ambitious incubation and capacity building programme to accelerate the development of the selected entrepreneurs.
For whom? It adresses cultural and creative companies
Where? In four countries: Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda
When? The incubation will take place from September 2019 to December 2020
At stake?
Online training and two bootcamps (residential)
Resources, tools and methodologies for improved business models
Regular mentoring by "creative" mentors from the « business » world
Peer reviews and exchange journeys
Specific support for fundraising
Financial support to develop your organisation: between 75,000 and 125,000 Euros
How to apply? By responding to the Call for Applications on the website, open from June 8th to August 15th, 2019
Afrique Créative, the stakeholders
AFD Africalia I & P Zhuculture Bayimba
Afrique Créative is financed by the French Development Agency (AFD)…
The AFD group finances, accompanies and accelerates transitions towards a fairer and more sustainable world. Climate, biodiversity, peace, education, culture, employment… : the teams are involved in over 4000 projects in Overseas France and 110 countries. By doing so, the AFD contributes to the commitment of France and the French people to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
…and implemented by an international consortium led by Africalia :
Africalia has been teaming up with artists and organisations working in a wide range of contemporary disciplines. Its mission is to support, collaborate with, structure and build networks of artists in order to put culture and creativity at the centre of economical innovation and social transformation in Africa. Besides, Africalia also mobilises the Belgian cultural sector so as to draw the attention of its audiences to African creativity.
Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) is an impact investing group focusing exclusively on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on the African continent. I&P combines four pan-African funds representing 125 million euros, and has supported more than 90 SMEs based in 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Zhu Culture, a cultural engineering consultancy based in Senegal, has more than 20 years of experience and knowledge of the CCI sector. Zhu Culture supports several artists and is regularly approached by creative organisations in French- and English-speaking countries in Africa.
Bayimba Foundation is a cultural production organisation based in Uganda. Bayimba has a very extensive network in the local creative sector and has hosted creative initiatives (including festivals, workshops, individual artists and creative collectives) for over a decade.
Other partners: Jokkolabs, Design Hub Kampala, CISAC (International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers).
Objective of the Afrique Créative programme: To support the development of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in order to maximise their social and economic impact.
Objective of the call: To identify eight CCI entrepreneurs to take part in the Afrique Créative programme
Programme length: 16 months (September 2019 to December 2020)
The following will be provided:
Technical assistance from experts at both national and international level
Regular coaching by mentors
Networking with potential partners and investors
A grant to boost the organisation’s growth: between 75,000 and 125,000 euros
Coaching to help raise additional funds
Target group: Cultural and creative organisations
Target countries: Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda
Number of selected entrepreneurs: Two per country
Application deadline :August 15th 2019 (included – before 11.59 pm)
Selection process
Éligibility National committees Selection panel Announcement of winners
The candidate selection procedure was as follows:
Eligibility check: Only complete dossiers which comply with the above-mentioned eligibility criteria will go through to the next stage.
National reading committees: Four applications short-listed per country.
Oral selection panel: This panel will evaluate the 16 finalists on the basis of a telephone interview. At the end of the interviews, eight entrepreneurs will be selected.
Announcement of the nine winners: the results were published on the programme’s website at the end of September.
Eligibility and selection criteria
CCI Country Seniority Documents
To be eligible, candidates must:
be a cultural and/or creative organisation
be a private legal entity (company or non-profit organisation)
be based in one of the following four countries: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Morocco or Uganda have existed for at least two years
be legally registered with the competent national authorities and have legal status as well as a governance body (board of directors, management committee, etc.)
fill in the application form and provide all the requested documents in French or English (see below)
The following are not eligible:
Individual applications
Public or semi-public organisations (state-owned enterprises, government agencies, public-sector schools, etc.).
The selection criteria that was used to analyze and record applications was:
Positioning and contributions to the cultural and creative sector
Maturity and management capabilities
Potential of economic model
Social and environmental impact and contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially integration of the gender and youth employment dimension
Relevance of the Afrique Créative programme and development potential
Call 2019
The call for applications in brief...
Burkina Faso Morocco Senegal Uganda
Objective of the Afrique Créative programme: To support the development of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in order to maximise their social and economic impact.
Objective of the call: To identify eight CCI entrepreneurs to take part in the Afrique Créative programme
Programme length: 16 months (September 2019 to December 2020)
The following will be provided:
Technical assistance from experts at both national and international level
Regular coaching by mentors
Networking with potential partners and investors
A grant to boost the organisation’s growth: between 75,000 and 125,000 euros
Coaching to help raise additional funds
Target group: Cultural and creative organisations
Target countries: Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal and Uganda
Number of selected entrepreneurs: Two per country
Application deadline :August 15th 2019 (included – before 11.59 pm)
Selection process
Éligibility National committees Selection panel Announcement of winners
The candidate selection procedure was as follows:
Eligibility check: Only complete dossiers which comply with the above-mentioned eligibility criteria will go through to the next stage.
National reading committees: Four applications short-listed per country.
Oral selection panel: This panel will evaluate the 16 finalists on the basis of a telephone interview. At the end of the interviews, eight entrepreneurs will be selected.
Announcement of the nine winners: the results were published on the programme’s website at the end of September.
Eligibility and selection criteria
CCI Country Seniority Documents
To be eligible, candidates must:
be a cultural and/or creative organisation
be a private legal entity (company or non-profit organisation)
be based in one of the following four countries: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Morocco or Uganda have existed for at least two years
be legally registered with the competent national authorities and have legal status as well as a governance body (board of directors, management committee, etc.)
fill in the application form and provide all the requested documents in French or English (see below)
The following are not eligible:
Individual applications
Public or semi-public organisations (state-owned enterprises, government agencies, public-sector schools, etc.).
The selection criteria that was used to analyze and record applications was:
Positioning and contributions to the cultural and creative sector
Maturity and management capabilities
Potential of economic model
Social and environmental impact and contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially integration of the gender and youth employment dimension
Relevance of the Afrique Créative programme and development potential
Our vision focuses on individuals and their ability to harness their creativity to drive change. The CCIs can provide substantial economic leverage, and are an embryonic sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The sector mainly consists of small or medium-sized organisations with a significant effect on local development.
In addition, work in the cultural and creative sector can be particularly attractive to women and young people, whose employment is a priority in Africa. Sustainable, non-polluting and unlimited in its resources, the creative field is one of the preferred routes to achieve the economic and ecological diversification that modern and globalised economies so urgently need.
It is for these reasons that Afrique Créative takes the approach of supporting cultural and creative entrepreneurship by offering training, guidance and networking opportunities to CCI organisations.
Our mission is to identify cultural and creative entrepreneurs with high potential and to support, strengthen and network them in order to accelerate the development of their organizations.
The programme will include:
Technical support, in terms of both entrepreneurial capacity-building and creative and cultural coaching;
Financial support to accelerate the organisation’s development and consolidate its business model.
Capacity building programme
E-learning Bootcamps Mentoring Mobility and network Fundraising
Afrique Créative offers an intensive incubation programme for cultural and creative entrepreneurs, who will be selected according to the call for applications.
This programme combines different methods and support tools:
An e-learning platform will enable incubated entrepreneurs to follow the distance learning modules; this will constitute a real "virtual" living space for participants who will be able to exchange, question and share their experiences.
Two bootcamps will be organized in two of the four countries of the program, bringing together all the entrepreneurs (see the indicative schedule). These residential workshops will allow all the incubated entrepreneurs to meet and take part in interactive workshops during which each will actively participate in the community’s skills development.
Tailor-made support: Each of the incubates will have two mentors who will accompany them regularly during the program:
A mentor from the "CCI" sector, who will support them in the cultural and creative aspects of their organization;
A mentor from the business world, who will coach them on management and business aspects in order to better structure their business model.
Peer reinforcement and exchange visits: the mobility grant and the various meetings planned during the programme will allow each participant to (re)discover new contexts, meet ICC entrepreneurs from other horizons and get exposed to other realities and practices.
Specific fundraising support completes the incubation scheme, which will be carried out by I&P Conseil, a specialist in impact investment in Africa.
This programme should enable each entrepreneur to network with new partners and potential investors.
Financial support
75.000 to 125.000€ Innovation and profitaility
Each entrepreneur selected as part of Creative Africa will benefit from a grant, ranging from 75,000 to 125,000 euros, depending on the needs of his/her organization.
The objectives of this scholarship are to :
Be a funding tool: This grant addresses the lack of adequate funding for CCIs;
Give a boost: this grant should help accelerate the company’s development by consolidating its business model;
Open doors for innovation: this grant must make it possible to start a new activity, a new product, service or process innovation;
Become lucrative: this exchange should make it possible to generate more own income through a better structure of the economic model and/or to attract ICC investors.
The principles related to the use of this funding are:
Flexibility: the constraints as to the type of development project and activities to be financed are relatively reduced in order to leave room for creativity and innovation;
Own contribution: each company must contribute at least 25% of the current development project budget (human resources, rent, communication, other financing, etc.);
Conditional disbursements: it is necessary to validate certain steps during the support to receive each instalment of the funding;
Mobility" and "co-financing" grants: these amounts are fixed on a lump sum basis and must allow incubates to take part in international activities on the one hand and to co-finance another development project on the other hand, if funding opportunities arise during the support.
Course of the program
Diagnosis Bootcamps Fundraising Closing
The estimated timetable of Afrique Créative is as follows :
October 2019: Organisational diagnosis (self-evaluation) and introduction sessions
October 2019: Bootcamp 1: Residential workshops – 1 week (Ouagadougou)
November 2019 to March 2020: Coaching + E-learning – Around 1 session per week
May 2020: Bootcamp 2: Residential workshops – 1 week (Kampala)
May to November 2020: Fund-raising support
November 2020: Closing event
December 2020: Reporting and assessment of the programme
Our vision focuses on individuals and their ability to harness their creativity to drive change. The CCIs can provide substantial economic leverage, and are an embryonic sector in sub-Saharan Africa. The sector mainly consists of small or medium-sized organisations with a significant effect on local development.
In addition, work in the cultural and creative sector can be particularly attractive to women and young people, whose employment is a priority in Africa. Sustainable, non-polluting and unlimited in its resources, the creative field is one of the preferred routes to achieve the economic and ecological diversification that modern and globalised economies so urgently need.
It is for these reasons that Afrique Créative takes the approach of supporting cultural and creative entrepreneurship by offering training, guidance and networking opportunities to CCI organisations.
Our mission is to identify cultural and creative entrepreneurs with high potential and to support, strengthen and network them in order to accelerate the development of their organizations.
The programme will include:
Technical support, in terms of both entrepreneurial capacity-building and creative and cultural coaching;
Financial support to accelerate the organisation’s development and consolidate its business model.
Capacity building programme
E-learning Bootcamps Mentoring Mobility and network Fundraising
Afrique Créative offers an intensive incubation programme for cultural and creative entrepreneurs, who will be selected according to the call for applications.
This programme combines different methods and support tools:
An e-learning platform will enable incubated entrepreneurs to follow the distance learning modules; this will constitute a real "virtual" living space for participants who will be able to exchange, question and share their experiences.
Two bootcamps will be organized in two of the four countries of the program, bringing together all the entrepreneurs (see the indicative schedule). These residential workshops will allow all the incubated entrepreneurs to meet and take part in interactive workshops during which each will actively participate in the community’s skills development.
Tailor-made support: Each of the incubates will have two mentors who will accompany them regularly during the program:
A mentor from the "CCI" sector, who will support them in the cultural and creative aspects of their organization;
A mentor from the business world, who will coach them on management and business aspects in order to better structure their business model.
Peer reinforcement and exchange visits: the mobility grant and the various meetings planned during the programme will allow each participant to (re)discover new contexts, meet ICC entrepreneurs from other horizons and get exposed to other realities and practices.
Specific fundraising support completes the incubation scheme, which will be carried out by I&P Conseil, a specialist in impact investment in Africa.
This programme should enable each entrepreneur to network with new partners and potential investors.
Financial support
75.000 to 125.000€ Innovation and profitaility
Each entrepreneur selected as part of Creative Africa will benefit from a grant, ranging from 75,000 to 125,000 euros, depending on the needs of his/her organization.
The objectives of this scholarship are to :
Be a funding tool: This grant addresses the lack of adequate funding for CCIs;
Give a boost: this grant should help accelerate the company’s development by consolidating its business model;
Open doors for innovation: this grant must make it possible to start a new activity, a new product, service or process innovation;
Become lucrative: this exchange should make it possible to generate more own income through a better structure of the economic model and/or to attract ICC investors.
The principles related to the use of this funding are:
Flexibility: the constraints as to the type of development project and activities to be financed are relatively reduced in order to leave room for creativity and innovation;
Own contribution: each company must contribute at least 25% of the current development project budget (human resources, rent, communication, other financing, etc.);
Conditional disbursements: it is necessary to validate certain steps during the support to receive each instalment of the funding;
Mobility" and "co-financing" grants: these amounts are fixed on a lump sum basis and must allow incubates to take part in international activities on the one hand and to co-finance another development project on the other hand, if funding opportunities arise during the support.
Course of the program
Diagnosis Bootcamps Fundraising Closing
The estimated timetable of Afrique Créative is as follows :
October 2019: Organisational diagnosis (self-evaluation) and introduction sessions
October 2019: Bootcamp 1: Residential workshops – 1 week (Ouagadougou)
November 2019 to March 2020: Coaching + E-learning – Around 1 session per week
May 2020: Bootcamp 2: Residential workshops – 1 week (Kampala)
May to November 2020: Fund-raising support
November 2020: Closing event
December 2020: Reporting and assessment of the programme
