African banks may be required to dedicate 2.5 per cent of their loans to the creative industry under a proposed policy championed by Silverbird Group founder, Ben Murray-Bruce, as pressure mounts for governments to treat the sector as a major economic driver.
Murray-Bruce said the proposed lending quota, alongside recognition of intellectual property as collateral, would help creative entrepreneurs overcome funding barriers and build commercially viable businesses across the continent.
He made the proposal during a keynote address at the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) WKND 2026 in Lagos, where industry leaders, policymakers and financiers examined ways to unlock Africa’s creative economy.
He argued that creative practitioners must move beyond appeals for government support and become active participants in political leadership and lawmaking if they hope to secure policies that protect their interests.
“You must take a political position and run for office,” he said, insisting that the laws governing access to finance, copyright protection and infrastructure would not change unless people from the industry helped shape them.
Murray-Bruce identified piracy, weak copyright enforcement and the difficulty of using creative works as loan security as major obstacles limiting the growth of the sector. He said intellectual property should be accepted as collateral to enable artists and creative businesses to access financing without depending solely on conventional assets.
International Finance Corporation’s Division Director for West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, Natalie Koussi Akon, disclosed that the institution had invested $1.6 billion in the creative industry over the past five years, reflecting growing recognition of its commercial potential.
She said the IFC was working to improve access to markets, build capacity, strengthen visibility and use technology to generate data that could help investors identify promising creative businesses.
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, called on African youths to seize opportunities presented by technological changes, artificial intelligence and the shifting global order to build the continent’s productive capacity rather than depend on external support. He also urged regular engagement between political leaders and creative practitioners based on trust and mutual respect.
Rwanda’s Minister of State for Youth and Arts, Sandrine Umutoni, and Minister for Grand Bahama, Ginger Moxey, called for policies that ease cross-border movement, strengthen regional cooperation and expand trade among African countries. Moxey specifically urged greater use of the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System to facilitate transactions within the continent.
The discussions at the Afreximbank-organised event centred on the need to turn Africa’s creative potential into sustainable businesses through deliberate financing, stronger copyright protection, supportive policies and access to wider markets.
