Cultural and Creative Business Incubation Programme

Afrique Créative is an acceleration programme financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and implemented by a consortium led by the Belgian non-profit organisation Africalia with I&P Conseil from the group Investisseurs et Partenaires (I&P) (a pioneer group in impact investment in Africa), Zhu Culture (a cultural engineering consultancy based in Senegal), Bayimba Foundation (a cultural production structure based in Uganda) and Tshimologong (a technological innovation hub within Wits University in South Africa).

This programme aims to support African cultural and creative businesses in their development to maximise their impact locally, nationally, and internationally. Cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are still an embryonic industrial sector in Africa and constitute a considerable economic lever.

Programme Benefits

• The 15 winning entrepreneurs will benefit:
  • An initial collective online training seminar (bootcamp n1) focusing on entrepreneurial structuring and business model consolidation;
  • A collective face-to-face training seminar (bootcamp n2) in one of the programme countries, focusing on scaling up and including in-depth sessions led by I&P Conseil on investment readiness and impact;
  • Weekly business coaching sessions by local incubators to refine and implement the strategy developed in the acceleration project presented to the jury;
  • At the end of the incubation phase, consolidation of learning is planned in the form of monitoring by the incubators;
  • E-learning sessions organised by the consortium - the themes of these sessions will be adapted according to the levels and needs of the cohort and will also include sharing the experience of other creative entrepreneurs;
  • Creative mentoring by renowned professionals in their field;
  • Business monitoring by professionals. These monthly sessions will help entrepreneurs to achieve the objectives they have set themselves for their growth: reaching a certain level of sales, raising a certain amount of funds, managing a geographical expansion, etc.;
  • Quarterly monitoring by the consortium to assess that the support provided is in line with the needs of the entrepreneur, and to provide advice and suggestions.
  • An acceleration grant:
    • The grants will amount to 30 to 60 thousand euros per company - Within this amount, a fixed budget will be allocated to pay the local incubator for support.
    • The amount of the grant will finance 2/3 of the total budget of the business acceleration project; the entrepreneur will have to make a 1/3 own contribution during the programme.
    • Disbursements will be progressive by tranches, according to quarterly developments.
    • Each entrepreneur will have to demonstrate in its financial projections the expected leverage effect through the investments it plans to make.

Type of actions targeted by the Afrique Créative Programme

• For the purposes of this call, a “cultural or creative enterprise" is:
  • An organisation with a business model allowing to generate income and not to depend on subsidies in a structural way;
  • An organisation active in a cultural and/or creative field: Radio; Music; Film; Television; Performing arts; Design; Crafts; Fashion; Visual arts; Photography; Architecture; Cultural tourism; Video games; Publishing; Production of creative content for the digital industry
  • An organization that has a strong social and economic impact: job creation, innovation, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

• be a cultural and/or creative organisation.
• Be established in one of the following 12 countries: South Africa; Benin; Cameroon; Ivory Coast; Ghana; Guinea Conakry; Kenya; Morocco; Uganda; Democratic Republic of Congo; Senegal; Tunisia
• Existed since minimum 2 years
• Be legally registered with the competent national authorities and have legal status as well as a governance body (board of directors, management committee, etc.)
• Having completed the application file and provided all the requested documents – in French or English

Ineligibility Criteria

• Individual applications
• Associations that do not present an economic model or profitability objective
• Public or parapublic organizations (state enterprises, government agencies, public schools, etc.).

For more information, visit Creative Africa.