Giving entrepreneurs in the creative and cultural sectors all the information to apply to be part of this intensive, R24-million mentorship, incubation and immersion programme
Création Africa is an initiative of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, coordinated by the Embassy of France and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). It aims to empower and support emerging creative and cultural enterprises in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi and is part of a continent-wide initiative to bolster Africa’s cultural and creative industries.
Says Mr David Martinon, Ambassador of France to South Africa: “Création Africa is about cultural and creative endeavours. It’s about helping to develop disruptive ideas and give birth to great projects. It’s a catalyst for entrepreneurship through an incubation programme.”
The programme is implemented in partnership with UVU Africa, serving as the Creation Africa incubator hub.
Applications to participate in Création Africa opened late last year and will close on January 26.
Sectors in the Cultural and Creative Industries include:
Visual Arts painting, sculpture, photography, and other visual arts
Performing Arts theatre, dance, music, circus, and live performances
Film & television production, direction, and distribution of film and TV shows
Music composition, production, and distribution of music
Publishing books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials
Design graphic design, industrial design, fashion design and so on
Fashion apparel, accessories, and related industries
Architecture architectural design and related services
Gaming video games, board games, and related interactive experiences
Crafts design craft
VR/XR virtual and extended reality application creators
Cultural heritage museums, archives, preservation, and restoration
Digital media digital content creation, online platforms, social media and AI applications
Animation content for various media
Software and interactive media software development and interactive digital experiences
Transversal third places (tiers-lieu), creative space, community centres
And multidisciplinary projects that include elements of all disciplines listed here
“If you have a project, we can assist you in defining it, in helping you to acquire the necessary skills, mentoring you to help you make the right strategic and tactical choices, to secure seed funding, and to accompany you into scaling it to success thanks to the right networks,“ Mr Martinon says.
“This initiative is especially designed for creative entrepreneurs and enterprises from Lesotho, Malawi, and South Africa, with the assumption that it will foster deeper cultural understanding while strengthening the entrepreneurial fabric between France and these three nations.”
All projects selected for the Création Africa programme will undergo mentorship and incubation by UVU Africa. Grants will be allocated based on the financial needs of select projects at the end of the incubation programme. Participating projects will be exposed to global networking opportunities that will open doors to further investment opportunities.