Keypoints:
- One Street Studios appointed co-general partner
- Fund aims to mobilise up to $1bn
- Initiative targets Africa’s creative economy
AFREXIMBANK has appointed US-based One Street Studios as co-general partner of its Pan-African Film Fund, marking the first major implementation step since the initiative was launched in 2025 and advancing plans to mobilise up to $1bn for Africa’s film and creative industries.
Backed by Afreximbank through its development impact investment arm, the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the Pan-African Film Fund is designed to channel long-term institutional capital into Africa’s film, television and immersive media industries. The appointment signals the transition from policy commitments to implementation as the bank seeks to build one of the continent’s largest dedicated creative economy investment platforms.
FEDA, Afreximbank’s impact investment subsidiary, will manage the fund alongside One Street Studios, combining institutional investment expertise with industry experience to finance commercially viable African content and creative infrastructure.
CANEX vision enters implementation
The Pan-African Film Fund was unveiled in Kigali in May 2025 under Afreximbank’s Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, which supports investment across Africa’s creative industries. At launch, the bank committed up to $1bn to establish one of Africa’s largest dedicated investment platforms for film and audiovisual content.
When the fund was launched, then Afreximbank President Professor Benedict Oramah said the initiative would help unlock Africa’s creative potential by addressing longstanding financing and market access constraints facing the continent’s film and audiovisual industries.
By appointing One Street Studios as co-general partner, Afreximbank and FEDA have now established the management structure that will identify investments, attract additional capital and oversee deployment across the film and audiovisual value chain.
Dr George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, described the partnership as ‘most timely and strategic’, saying it would strengthen links between Africa and its diaspora while enabling the continent’s creative economy to take greater ownership of its narratives. He said the initiative would empower Africa ‘to produce what we consume and consume what we produce’.
The fund is expected to invest across film and television production, studios, post-production facilities, distribution networks, cinemas and emerging digital media platforms, reflecting a strategy that extends beyond financing individual productions.
One Street Studios’ role
One Street Studios will serve as co-general partner with FEDA, bringing an integrated model that combines financing, development and production. The company is led by publishing executive and producer Lavaille Lavette, who will serve as chief executive of the Pan-African Film Fund while continuing as managing partner of One Street Studios.
Lavette said Africa’s creative industries were entering ‘a defining moment’, adding that the fund would help mobilise long-term capital, strengthen production capacity and create sustainable pathways for African stories to reach global audiences.
FEDA Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Assiak said the partnership would help connect African creators with institutional investment while supporting world-class content capable of competing internationally.
Closing Africa’s financing gap
Africa’s film industry has earned international recognition through industries such as Nollywood, yet many producers continue to struggle with limited access to commercial finance.
According to UNESCO’s The African Film Industry: Trends, Challenges and Opportunities for Growth, Africa’s film and audiovisual sector generates about $5bn annually and supports more than 5 million jobs. UNESCO estimates the industry could contribute as much as $20bn to the continent’s GDP and create more than 20 million jobs if financing, infrastructure and distribution bottlenecks are addressed.
Afreximbank believes the new fund can help bridge that gap by providing patient capital capable of supporting commercially viable businesses while enabling African creators to retain greater ownership of their intellectual property.
Creative economy becomes strategic investment
The latest move reflects a broader shift by African development finance institutions to treat the creative economy as a strategic export industry rather than simply a cultural sector.
Through CANEX, Afreximbank has expanded support for film, music, fashion, publishing and other creative industries, arguing that African intellectual property can become an increasingly valuable source of export earnings, employment and intra-African trade.
As Netflix, Canal+, MultiChoice and other global and regional platforms expand investment in African content, Afreximbank hopes more intellectual property, production capacity and export revenues can remain on the continent rather than flowing primarily to foreign financiers. The initiative also complements the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area by encouraging cross-border production partnerships and digital film distribution across regional and international markets.
Why now?
The appointment comes as streaming platforms, institutional investors and development finance institutions increasingly recognise Africa’s creative industries as a strategic growth sector. While global demand for African stories continues to rise, industry leaders say limited access to long-term capital remains one of the biggest barriers to building globally competitive production companies and retaining ownership of African intellectual property.
For Afreximbank, the initiative forms part of a broader strategy to position the creative economy alongside manufacturing, agriculture and technology as a driver of export growth and economic diversification.
What happens next?
The next phase will focus on raising additional capital, identifying commercially viable projects and deploying investment across Africa’s creative ecosystem, including production companies, studios, post-production facilities, distribution businesses and film production infrastructure capable of supporting globally competitive African content.
If successfully capitalised, the Pan-African Film Fund could become one of Africa’s most significant creative economy investments, replacing fragmented project financing with institutional capital while strengthening African ownership of intellectual property, expanding cultural exports and positioning the continent as a globally competitive hub for film and audiovisual production.
