• The Création Africa programme has selected 40 businesses to participate in the 2024 iteration of its programme.
• The businesses come from South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi.
• Of the 40 businesses, 12 will be selected for Création Africa’s five-month incubation programme.

Création Africa is a programme run by the Embassy of France, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and UVU Africa. Launched in 2023, the programme strives to support entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative fields in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi.

The programme’s 2024 was selected this week and as many as 34 businesses from South Africa, two from Lesotho and four from Malawi made the cut. This, after Création Africa pre-selected 72 businesses who pitched their business ideas and growth, plans to a panel of jurors back in February. Jurors were sourced from the Embassy of France in South Africa, IFAS, UVU Africa, Bpifrance, and Team France partners and experts in the local creative and cultural industries.

“The response to our call for Création Africa applications was overwhelmingly positive and enormously encouraging,” says H. E. David Martinon, Ambassador of France to South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi.

“Création Africa received 702 applications, many of them of excellent quality and representing the diversity of cultures, genders, economic sectors and geographic regions. We are satisfied that we have chosen the most promising and deserving projects out of an enormously competitive field and look forward to taking the next step together with those businesses that go on to the next phase of the programme.”

The 40 businesses selected for Création Africa include fashion and design, audiovisual and media, videogames, music and other creative endeavours. Those 40 businesses are:

• Sadcake Studios – South Africa
• Africa Games Week – South Africa
• Artlandish Animation Studio – Malawi
• Azania Rises – South Africa
• BTG Productions – South Africa
• Bridge Books – South Africa
• Frankie Pappas International – South Africa
• Chargeos Leatherware and Accessories – South Africa
• Chap Studio/ABANTU in AFRICA – South Africa
• EBK Studios – South Africa
• Giya Home – South Africa
• Fuata Moyo – South Africa
• ITTHYNK Gaming Solutions – South Africa
• Koranges Art – South Africa
• Khayelitsha Art School & Rehabilitation Centre KASI RC NPC – South Africa
• Kwacha Creative Studios – Malawi
• Lincoln Green Media – South Africa
• LSJ Clothing and Merchandising/Butan – South Africa
• Minenhle Luthuli Narratives – South Africa
• Asex – South Africa
• MP Multimedia – Lesotho
• Na Aap Productions – South Africa
• Old Fashioned Youngin – South Africa
• Palamang Animation – South Africa
• Pineapple on Pizza Studios – South Africa
• Project4 Digital Design – Malawi
• Renaissance Design – South Africa
• RIT (Moodswing) – South Africa
• Sign Comedy Superstars – South Africa
• Skitz Films – South Africa
• Slimgosa Media – South Africa
• Sourcecode – Lesotho
• SpaceSalad Studios – South Africa
• Ananta Global – South Africa
• Tendalo Trading – South Africa
• Terry Made Designs – Malawi
• Thebe Magugu – South Africa
• Vetkoek Studios – South Africa
• VNTU – South Africa
• ZURI and IMANI – South Africa

You can find all the profiles of each of the businesses selected here.

Of this group of 40, just 12 businesses will be selected to participate in a five-month incubation programme. The businesses will also participate in an immersion programme run by Bpifrance, run through the Euroquity platform.

“The ultimate objective of Création Africa is to establish an ecosystem that identifies and nurtures cultural initiatives and enables Africa’s emerging creative and cultural entrepreneurs to make a sustainable and sustaining impact on their national and regional economies, and on Africa’s continental economy,” Martinon said in a statement.

It’s great to see some support going the way of businesses working in the creative industry. All too often are the arts, design, fashion and other creative fields ignored and left to fend for themselves.

We wish all 40 Création Africa participants luck as they move through the programme.

[Image – Alexandr Ivanov from Pixabay]