By Plot Mhako, Founder of earGROUND, Jibilika and Amplifaya Festival and Arts Connect Africa (ACA) Board Member
Africa is rising, not only in terms of demographics and digital innovation but also as a vibrant hub of cultural power. At the heart of this momentum are cultural associations are Arts Connect Africa (ACA), a collective of visionary businessmen in the African creative industry. With strategic influence over 50 creative industry festivals across the continent, ACA holds a unique key: the power to shape how African culture is celebrated, how it is shared globally, and how it generates value for local communities.
Now, with international record labels seeking partnerships for superstar artist tours in Africa, ACA’s position as a central connector of festivals has never been more vital. But beyond the allure of high-profile tours, there’s a deeper opportunity: using this database of festivals to achieve ACA’s three strategic goals — education, economic impact, and cultural exchange.
- Education: A Mobile Classroom for Africa’s Creative Workforce
Africa’s creative industries are growing fast, but the talent pipeline still suffers from skill gaps and lack of access to formal training. ACA’s network of festivals can become mobile classrooms, where informal and formal education meet. These festivals are more than performance spaces — they’re incubators for learning, where knowledge can be shared on everything from stage management to rights management, digital marketing, sound engineering, and tour logistics.
By embedding workshops, masterclasses, and mentorship sessions into the programming of each festival, ACA can deliver targeted education to aspiring creatives at scale. Imagine a fashion student in Nairobi learning directly from global costume designers, or a sound engineer in Accra being certified by top European audio companies — all made possible through ACA’s coordination with its festival partners.
Even more, partnerships with international labels can be tied to training commitments. A Label like Livenation seeking performance slots for their artists in African festival would be quite happy if they are asked to sponsor/support educational programs or fund scholarships for local talents in lieu of the booking fees that they will have to pay to the ACA for the connection to some of the most attended festivals in Africa. This model not only builds goodwill for both LiveNation and ACA but ensures that every global partnership leaves behind local capacity.
- Economic Impact: Building a Creative Economy that Works for Africans
The creative economy in Africa already contributes millions of jobs and billions of dollars in GDP, yet it remains largely informal and under-leveraged. With a coordinated network of 50+ festivals, ACA can change that — by standardizing professional practices, promoting local procurement, and channeling international investment directly into African communities.
Organizations such as the ACA can develop a Festival Economic Framework that encourages directors to:
- Prioritize hiring local talent (caterers, vendors, photographers, artisans)
- Promote fair pay and enforce industry standards
- Collect and report economic data to make a case for public and private sector funding
When international record labels tour Africa, they bring with them teams, budgets, and global attention. Cultural organizations can negotiate preferred vendor arrangements, ensuring that the spending stays within the local ecosystem. Whether it’s renting gear, hiring drivers, or setting up stages, the economic benefits should cascade into the local creative workforce.
Moreover, this database of festivals allows ACA to present a unified front to governments and development agencies. By showing the reach, consistency, and economic contribution of these events, ACA can unlock creative industry funding, infrastructure support, and public-private partnerships. It becomes easier to argue for visa reform, easier logistics, and investment in touring infrastructure when there’s organized data and collective action.
- Cultural Exchange: Reclaiming the African Narrative Globally
For centuries, Africa has exported culture but rarely controlled the narrative. That is now changing — and ACA’s festival database is central to this transformation. Festivals are storytelling platforms. Through music, fashion, film, and performance, they project African identities, traditions, and innovations to the world.
With international artists now seeking entry into these festivals through their global record labels, ACA is in a unique position to set the terms of cultural exchange. Instead of one-sided performances where global superstars “perform to” African audiences, ACA can create reciprocal experiences where African artists also perform alongside them, participate in collaborations, and are featured in global media coverage.
Each festival on the ACA network can be a node of cultural diplomacy — a place where ideas, stories, and values are shared between Africa and the world. From Francophone West Africa to Lusophone Mozambique, ACA’s reach can help celebrate the diversity of African identity while also building inter-African cultural bridges.
By coordinating cultural showcases, co-curated lineups, and themed cross-border programming, ACA can make these festivals powerful platforms of African unity and expression. And with the right partnerships, festivals can become springboards for African artists to tour globally, creating a full-circle model of cultural exchange that empowers African creators.
To cite one obvious example April 30th was World Jazz Day, but it is noteworthy that even with the efforts of certain African music industry professionals, some of whom are members of ACA, Jazz has not reached the potential it has as a frontline genre of African music. There are several genres in Africa that can benefit from a fusion with Jazz, and thus having a record label with jazz artists tour with popular artists who already have a global following in Jazz-adjacent genres (Omah Lay and Tems with their Alte music readily come to mind) is an opportunity to build new audiences for jazz artists and a cross fusion of genres.
The Road Ahead: From Database to Cultural Powerhouse
What ACA holds is not just a list of festivals — it’s a blueprint for continental impact. With thoughtful coordination, investment, and policy advocacy, this network can become:
- A training ground for the next generation of creative professionals
- A reliable engine of economic growth for African communities
- A beacon of authentic African culture in a globalized world
As the eyes of international stakeholders turn to Africa for fresh culture, talent, and markets, ACA must lead the conversation — ensuring that partnerships are equitable, that growth is inclusive, and that African creatives are not just featured, but empowered.
By activating the full potential of its festival database, Arts Connect Africa can help shape the future of Africa’s creative industry — one festival at a time.