Africa’s Creative Economy Has a $150bn Opportunity— This Institution is Building the Infrastructure to Capture it

Africa’s creative economy has become one of the continent’s most influential growth sectors, shaping global conversations across fashion, music, film, art and design. Yet despite that influence, Africa still captures only a small fraction of the economic value tied to its creativity.

The numbers tell the story clearly. Africa’s fashion industry generated $4.2 billion in exports in 2022, while the continent’s broader creative economy,  spanning fashion, music, crafts, film and design, accounted for just 1.5 percent of global creative economy output. In 2023, approximately five million Africans were working within creative industries, with that number expected to rise significantly over the next decade.

According to projections by Boston Consulting Group, Africa’s creative economy could generate between $150 billion and $160 billion annually by 2030 if supported by the right structural investment.

The gap between where Africa’s creative economy stands today and where it could be is no longer difficult to identify. It is not a talent problem. It is not a quality problem. It is an infrastructure problem.

That is the gap ÀLKÉ says it intends to address.

Founded by Lulu Shabell, ÀLKÉ is a pan-African cultural institution built around four pillars: Art, Legacy, Knowledge and Enterprise. Rather than functioning as a seasonal showcase, the platform is designed as a permanent framework to preserve, commercialise and grow Africa’s creative industries over the long term.

For Lulu, the need for a different model became clearer after years spent working across African and international creative markets.

“I kept returning to the same question,” she said. “Why are African creatives constantly trying to enter structures built by others instead of building institutions of our own?”

That question now sits at the centre of ÀLKÉ’s vision – The institution argues that while African culture continues to shape global industries, ownership and long-term economic value often remain concentrated elsewhere. In fashion and luxury especially, African aesthetics, textiles and cultural references continue to influence global design, often without sustained returns flowing back to the communities connected to those traditions.

ÀLKÉ’s model is built around three structures.

The first is the annual ÀLKÉ Ball, which the institution describes as a convening platform for creatives, investors, policymakers and industry stakeholders. The inaugural edition will take place in Cape Town, with future editions expected to rotate across Lagos, Nairobi, Dakar, Accra, Addis Ababa and Cairo. The rotating format is meant to position the initiative at continental scale rather than anchor it to one city or one founder.

The second pillar is the ÀLKÉ Endowment, a permanent funding structure focused on education, research, manufacturing support, archives and enterprise development within the creative sector. The institution says the endowment model is intended to provide durable support beyond the short-term grant cycles that have long shaped funding for African creative industries.

The third pillar is a venture studio framework designed to connect African creatives and cultural enterprises with investors, policymakers and commercial partners capable of scaling their work into sustainable businesses.

Education remains one of the sector’s biggest gaps.

Research across parts of the continent has shown that many African fashion and design institutions still rely heavily on Western frameworks, often positioning New York, London and Paris as the primary reference points for innovation. At the same time, African creative capitals such as Lagos, Dakar, Nairobi and Johannesburg continue to shape global culture in real time.

ÀLKÉ says part of its long-term strategy will involve building archives, educational frameworks and institutional partnerships that document African design knowledge while strengthening pathways into international markets.

For business and policy stakeholders, the larger question is economic. Africa’s cultural influence continues to grow globally, while its youth population, digital economy and creative sectors continue expanding rapidly. The challenge is whether the continent can build institutions capable of converting that cultural relevance into long-term value.

ÀLKÉ’s answer is that the opportunity already exists. The work now is to build the structures that can sustain it.