Advisory
I work with development finance institutions, funds, banks, governments and corporates on how capital reaches Africa's creative and sports industries.
How an institution enters the creative industries or scales what it already does: where the opportunities lie, which sub-sectors and markets to prioritize, and what conditions are needed for capital to move.
Primary research in English and French, across the continent: country and sub-sector studies, value chain analysis, ecosystem mapping, and case studies.
The vehicle itself: transaction categories, eligibility criteria, evaluation frameworks, intellectual property securitization, financing structure.
Masterclasses and workshops that give investment teams the working knowledge to underwrite creative businesses, and programs that teach creative entrepreneurs business and financial literacy.
Working with financial institutions to strengthen their investment thesis and strategies, develop pipelines, deliver business readiness programs for creative entrepreneurs, assess prospect companies for investment, and support portfolio companies in their growth.
Case Studies
Proparco (AFD Group) - CREA Fund
Team leader and creative industries expert, 2023-present
CREA is a $7M guarantee and technical assistance (TA) vehicle designed to draw private investment into African creative businesses. Alongside my consortium partner PwC, I structured its TA component and have run it since, working directly with Proparco's portfolio funds and financial institutions: building creative-sector investment strategies, developing pipelines, and assessing companies for investment readiness. In addition, the mandate covers original research, such as case studies on successful creative businesses, and market analyses of gaming in Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa. I also organized the initiative's launch, where ten funds met twenty creative companies.
Afreximbank - Film Finance Facility
Creative industries expert, 2022-2024
Afreximbank wanted to lend against film, an asset class most banks have no framework for. PwC and I designed the $1 billion debt facility, including which transaction categories it would cover, eligibility criteria, the evaluation framework, and risk-management mechanisms. We then ran technical assistance workshops to bring the bank's own team up to speed on how film financing works, and supported deal sourcing and due diligence on the first transactions.
UNESCO - The African Film and Television Industry: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities for Growth
Lead author, 2021
The first comprehensive study of African film ever produced, covering all 54 countries. I led a team of twenty contributors through research on film and television production, distribution, and financing. The report closed with strategic recommendations for governments, and those recommendations went on to inform new film-sector policy in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Ivory Coast and Kenya. It remains the reference document for the sector.
IFC (World Bank Group)
Creative industries expert, 2023-2025
IFC set itself a target of deploying $1 billion a year into the creative industries in emerging markets. I shaped and guided the strategies and initiatives targeted at the African continent, contributed to the Fashion SME Champions program, and supplied market intelligence across eight countries (Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Benin). Alongside that I sourced deals, opened relationships with other DFIs and funds moving into the sector, and hosted the creative industries sessions at the World Bank Annual Meeting in Marrakech and the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali.
African Development Bank and Nigerian Government - iDICE
Creative industries expert, program design, 2021
AfDB was preparing a major investment program for Nigeria's digital and creative industries and sought out expert support in the design phase. My PwC partners and I ran a country-wide study of the creative and innovation ecosystem, mapped the public, private and international players, and identified the binding constraints across policy, infrastructure, human capital and financing. The output was a full program design, including proposed initiatives, delivery partners, and a financing strategy. iDICE was launched in 2023 with a $617 million budget, financed by AfDB ($170M), Agence Française de Développement (€100M), Islamic Development Bank ($70M), and the Bank of Industry.
Warner Bros. - Africa strategy
Africa creative industries expert, 2018-2019
Warner Bros. was considering an entry into the African market and needed to know where its own strengths would translate. I produced a market-entry and investment strategy focused on the Nigerian cinema sector, built on what the studio was best positioned to do. I introduced them to first-class local partners, managed those relationships, and supported the deal negotiation through to close.
I also worked with:
EU · Expertise France · FilmOne Entertainment · AFD · TRACE · Netflix · Rainbow Sports Global · Twitter · Montreux Comedy · Galeries Lafayette · Olympia Le Tan · Governments of France and Nigeria