Africa’s creative economy has received one of its biggest financial commitments to date after the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) officially launched its $1 billion Pan-African Film Fund, a landmark initiative designed to unlock investment across the continent’s rapidly growing film and audiovisual industry.
Established through the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), Afreximbank’s development impact investment arm, the fund is expected to mobilise up to $1 billion to finance African film, television and digital content projects while strengthening the infrastructure needed to support the industry’s long-term growth.
Unlike conventional film financing programmes that focus primarily on individual productions, the Pan-African Film Fund has been structured to invest across the industry’s entire value chain. Its mandate extends from content development and production to post-production facilities, studio infrastructure, digital streaming platforms, cinema exhibition networks, distribution companies and other businesses that support the commercialisation of African content.
The launch marks one of the most ambitious attempts yet to transform Africa’s film industry from a largely undercapitalised creative sector into a globally competitive economic industry capable of attracting long-term institutional investment. Although Africa produces thousands of films every year, particularly through Nigeria’s Nollywood, one of the world’s largest film industries by volume, the sector continues to face major financing constraints. Limited access to capital, inadequate production infrastructure, fragmented distribution systems and weak intellectual property monetisation have prevented many African filmmakers from fully commercialising their work despite growing global demand for African stories.
According to UNESCO, Africa’s film and audiovisual sector currently generates around $5 billion annually and supports approximately five million jobs. With stronger investment in production, distribution, skills development and supporting infrastructure, the industry could expand to generate as much as $20 billion annually while creating more than 20 million jobs across the continent. Recognising that potential, Afreximbank has positioned the fund as part of its broader strategy to develop Africa’s creative industries into a major contributor to trade, exports, employment and economic diversification.
To lead the initiative, Afreximbank has appointed publishing and production executive Lavaille Lavette as Chief Executive Officer. The fund will be managed through a partnership between FEDA and Lavette’s One Street Studios, which will serve as Co-General Partners responsible for mobilising capital, identifying investment opportunities and building a commercially sustainable African film ecosystem.
Lavette brings decades of experience spanning publishing, media, intellectual property development and content production. Her appointment reflects the fund’s broader ambition of treating African storytelling not simply as culture, but as an investable asset class capable of generating long-term economic value. Beyond financing individual productions, the fund is expected to help expand studio capacity, modernise post-production services, strengthen cinema infrastructure, improve continental and international distribution networks, and support the growth of African-owned streaming platforms.
These investments are intended to ensure that more of the value created by African stories remains within the continent. The launch also reinforces Afreximbank’s growing role in sectors beyond traditional trade finance. Through initiatives such as the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), the bank has increasingly backed industries including film, fashion, music, publishing, sports and other creative enterprises as part of a broader vision for industrialisation and economic transformation.
Africa has never lacked compelling stories or creative talent. What has often been missing is the financial infrastructure capable of turning those stories into globally competitive businesses. With the launch of the Pan-African Film Fund, Afreximbank is betting that the continent’s next major export will not only be minerals, manufactured goods or agricultural products, but also African ideas, culture and intellectual property, backed by the scale of investment needed to compete on the world stage.