SUPPORT TO ACP CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

A decentralised support mechanism

To support the commitment of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) to promote the socio-economic development of ACP countries, the ACP-EU Culture Programme has launched in 2021 a regional scheme to strengthen the competitiveness of ACP cultural and creative industries.

With a budget of € 26 million divided between six regional hubs, the mechanism aims at contributing to the multiplication of financing opportunities for operators, to strengthen the capacities of regional organisations involved and a more equal distribution of financial aid between ACP regions.

Organised around consortia of international, regional and national organisations promoting cultural and creative industries, the regional hubs will respond to the needs of ACP operators in a targeted manner, by publishing calls for proposals at least once a year in the different cultural and creative sectors.

Six regional hubs

WESTERN AFRICA

West Africa CCIs include thousands of operators, companies and private organisations. However, most stakeholders keep being confronted with recurrent problems of structuring, professionalisation and financing. The entire cultural and creative sector has also suffered the full force of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

Our Programme AWA intends to boost the competitiveness of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) throughout the value chain (creation, production and distribution) in West Africa.

CENTRAL AFRICA

Central Africa has great potential – yet still insufficiently exploited – in the areas of culture and creation. The development of the informal sector represents, among other things, a very important margin for growth. 

Our programme Créer en Afrique Centrale will focus on supporting the full development of CCIs in the region through capacity-building, supporting the entire value chain and the circulation of quality cultural goods and services.

EASTERN AFRICA

East Africa’s market share in cultural and creative sectors remains very small compared to other regions of the world.

Our Ignite Culture programme focuses mainly on improving the cultural and creative environment; building the capacity of  young people starting out in the cultural and creative sectors; improving the public visual literacy of the public and access to markets for East African cultural and creative goods and services, to name a few.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

Southern Africa only benefits from a very small share of the global market for cultural goods. 

Our programme Sounds Connect aims to support the cultural and creative sector in marginalized regions of Southern Africa by strengthening them locally and linking them regionally. Through its interventions, the programme intends to support the acceleration of the development and strengthening of the performance of the cultural and creative sectors in the region.

CARIBBEAN

The growth of the cultural and creative industries in the Caribbean is affected by constraints such as access to finance, capacity building and markets, compounded by the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

Our programme Creative Caribbean – An Ecosystem of “Play” for Growth and Development focuses its interventions on fostering the economic, human and social development of the region by stimulating inclusive, diversified and sustainable growth of the cultural economy.

PACIFIC

This regional support mechanism aims to improve the coordination, management, monitoring and evaluation of development projects in the cultural and creative sectors in the three sub-regions of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. It addresses the main needs of the region, namely strengthening institutional mechanisms, mainstreaming culture in all sectors of activity, improving cultural production, more effective resource mobilisation and better communication.

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