Clustering in special economic zones can boost Central Africa's creative industry, says ECA’s Pedro

Abstract

The creative industries constitute an important lever for economic diversification in Central Africa and can help countries of the sub-region build back better in a post-COVID-19 dispensation, said the Head of ECA’s Office for Central Africa Antonio Pedro to a range of actors from across Francophone Africa who attended a virtual conference dubbed. Mr. Pedro told the virtual assembly that like the rest of the continent, Central African countries are yet to take advantage of the huge opportunities for employment and economic transformation offered by the modern services of the cultural space such as music, film, fine arts, fashion and television entertainment. Nollywood could have been doing better in revenue generation, were it not for the loss of circa USD 2billion per year as a result of piracy. This constitutes a major difficulty for the creative industries in Africa, Mr. Pedro observed. “To develop this sector, we need very strong regulatory institutions and structures to support young creators which the continent has in unlimited supply,” Mr. Pedro pointed out.