Ghana will host the maiden edition of Creatives Connect Afrika from 25th to 30th November 2025 at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra.
The event, part of the Black Star Experience initiative, is being organised in partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and Africa Tourism Partners (ATP). It was officially launched on 22nd August 2025 at the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra.
The programme is expected to bring together participants from across Africa’s tourism, culture, and creative arts sectors. Key figures at the launch included Emily Mburu-Ndoria, Director of Trade in Services, Investment, Intellectual Property Rights and Digital Trade at the AfCFTA Secretariat; Francis Doku, West Africa Representative for ATP; Rex Owusu Marfo, Coordinator of the Black Star Experience; and MC Samuel Agyemang, a broadcaster.
Ghana has secured the right to host the event for three years, after which it will rotate to another African country.
The objectives of Creatives Connect Afrika include advancing continental integration in the creative and cultural industries, promoting intra-African collaboration and trade in film, music, and fashion, building capacity for industry growth by equipping creatives and entrepreneurs with skills to leverage AfCFTA opportunities, identifying and addressing barriers to trade, facilitating business partnerships and co-productions, strengthening private sector collaboration, and celebrating Africa’s rich heritage through the arts.
Organisers noted that Creatives Connect Afrika builds on the success of the AfCFTA Tourism, Creative and Cultural Industries Forum, previously held in Gaborone, Botswana, over the past three years under the African Tourism Leadership Forum. The new platform expands its scope to integrate tourism with the wider creative and cultural industries.
Highlights of the programme will include masterclasses in film, music, and fashion, with sessions focusing on trade rules, market access, intra-African opportunities, content development, financing, production, distribution, and regulatory frameworks for creative industries. Other areas of focus will include visa and mobility challenges, the role of creatives in driving intra-African trade, storytelling, cultural diplomacy, creative infrastructure, emerging technologies, the gig economy, and financing for the tourism, cultural, and creative sectors.
Source: Kwame Dadzie
