Exploring the Creative Economy in Africa brought together academics, cultural practitioners and policy makers interested in exploring the dynamics of creative and cultural production in Africa and their connection with local contexts and policy frameworks on the 27th of June 2016, at King's College London.
In recent years there has been a growing interest on the role that cultural and creative industries play in developing economies, not only in reference to economic contribution but also in connection with social change and cultural engagement. In this one day seminar we bring together some academics, practitioners and policy makers who work in this field to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that the creative economy faces in emerging contexts like Africa. 
The event was divided into three parts. The first part exploredthe role of policy and mapping in framing and understand the role that creative and cultural industries can play in different contexts. The second part focused on the role of creative education in supporting cultural development in Africa. The last part of the day focused on cultural entrepreneurship in Africa discussing informality, networks and financial issues, as well as new economic and business models. 

The one day seminar was organised by Dr Roberta Comunian (King’s College London) in collaboration with Ejemen Ojeabulu (African University of Creative Arts) and Sam Jones (Sound Thread) with the support of King’s Worldwide Partnership Fund, The Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries.

Programme

9.30 – 9.50 Welcome Coffee
9.50-10.00 Opening Welcome and Introduction
10.00 – 11.20 The Creative Economy: Mapping & Policy perspectives
Introduction: Dr Roberta Comunian, King’s College London
  • Chi Onwurah, MP, Shadow Minister Culture & the Digital Economy
  • Jen Snowball, Professor of Economics, Rhodes University
  • John, Davies, research fellow Digital and creative economy, NESTA
11.20 Coffee break
11.50 – 1.15 Creative Education: Skills and Knowledge
Introduction: Ejemen Ojeabulu, African University of Creative Arts and Visiting Cultural Partner at King’s College London
  • Prof Duro Oni, DVC University of Lagos Nigeria
  • ​Louisa Waddingham, Director Programme British Council, Nigeria
  • Yemisi Mokuolu, Director, Hatch Africa Solutions Ltd
 
1.15 – 2.15 Lunch Break
2.15 – 4.00 Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship in Africa
Introduction: Sam Jones, Sound Thread
  • Jeff Thompson – Unconvention + Off Axis
  • Genevieve Pace, Programme Manager, Creative Industry Finance, Creative United
  • Alessandro Jedlowski, post-doctoral researcher, Université de Liège
  • Simon Dancey, Director of the Cultural Skills Unit at British Council
 4.00 – 4.30 concluding remarks
4.30 – 6pm Drink Reception in the Somerset House East Wing – Archaeology Room

THE SEMINAR BENEFITS FROM FUNDING FROM:
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​​King’s Worldwide Partnership Fund

THE SEMINAR BENEFITS FROM THE SUPPORT & NETWORKS OF: ​

Speakers

​The Creative Economy: Mapping & Policy perspectives

Chi Onwurah is a British Member of Parliament representing Newcastle upon Tyne Central and is also Shadow Minister for Culture & the Digital Economy. From Jan 2013 - Sept 2015 Chi was Shadow Cabinet Office Minister leading on cyber security, social entrepreneurship, civil contingency, open government and transparency. From Oct 2010 – Jan 2013 Chi was Shadow Minister for Innovation, Science & Digital Infrastructure working closely with the Science and business community, with industry on Broadband issues, and on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. Chi continues to encourage women in STEM.  Prior to Chi’s election to Parliament in May 2010 she worked as Head of Telecom's Technology at the UK regulator Ofcom focussing on the implications for competition and regulation of the services and technologies associated with Next Generation Networks.Prior to Ofcom, Chi was a Partner in Hammatan Ventures, a US technology consultancy, developing the GSM markets in Nigeria and South Africa. Previously she was Director of Market Development with Teligent, a Global Wireless Local Loop operator and Director of Product Strategy at GTS.  She has also worked for Cable & Wireless and Nortel as Engineer, Project and Product Manager in the UK and France. 
​John Davies is a research fellow focusing on the digital and creative economy. He is studying activities at the intersection of technology & art, and social media data (sometimes both at the same time). Past projects have included using Twitter to assess networking events and Flickr to understand people's engagement with the built environment. Prior to Nesta, he worked as English Heritage's economist and led its Social and Economic research team. He has also worked for a leading economic consultancy and as a civil servant in a number of Government departments. John has worked on competition issues in a range of industries, been directly involved in the implementation of the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), and analysed private pensions, the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and investments in castles. He has also done some work on data visualisation. John has undergraduate and master's degrees in economics from the LSE.
Jen Snowball is a professor of Economics at Rhodes University, South Africa. She is also a research strategist at the National Cultural Observatory in South Africa. Her research interests are focused mainly in the field of cultural economics (or the economics of arts and culture). She has more than 40 articles published in national and international peer reviewed journals. Her book, Measuring the Value of Culture: Methods and Economics in Cultural Economics (2008), was well received both locally and internationally. She is a member of the Association of Cultural Economics International, and regularly presents at South African and international conferences. Her research in cultural economics has focused on the use of market and non-market valuation methods cultural economics, especially as they apply to cultural festivals. Her recent work for the Cultural Observatory has been on Cultural Mapping Studies and how the Cultural and Creative Industries relate to economic and social development.

Creative Education: Skills and Knowledge

​Professor Duro Oni is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Management Services) at the University of Lagos. He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts from August 1, 2009 to February 3, 2013. Before then, he was Professor and Head of the Department of Creative Arts at the University of Lagos from 2005 – 2009. He was also the Director-General/Chief Executive of the Federal Government Parastatal, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) from 2000-2006. A versatile Academic and Administrator, Professor Duro Oni has nine books and over 50 academic papers in national and international publication outlets. He is a Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artistes (SONTA), Fellow, Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, (RSA), UK, Member, Academy of Letters and a Member of the University of Lagos Governing Council (2007-2011, 2013 to present). He holds a Ph.D. in Theatre Arts from the University of Ibadan.
​Yemisi Mokuolu is the Managing Director of Hatch Africa and is best known for her work promoting African creative content and developing creative potential across Africa. As a consultant, she has worked for Arts Council England, British Council and NESTA providing creative business advice and training. Yemisi is a creative in her own right and as a practitioner, her credits include; Artistic Director “Amnesty At Edinburgh Fringe”, Producer “Out of Africa” festival London, Co-producer Asa Baako festival in Ghana and Co-producer “Oliva Tweest: An Afrobeats Musical”. 
Louisa Waddingham is Director of Programmes for the British Council in Nigeria. She has worked for the British Council for over 25 years holding positions of leadership, policy and programme management in the UK, Slovakia, Oman, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone. She holds a Masters in Public Policy and Management and a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies.
 

Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship in Africa 

​Jeff Thompson is co-founder of Un-Convention, co-founder of the Future Artists Live Creative Co-op and also runs Fat Northerner Records, an independent label based in Manchester, UK. He is fortunate enough to spend much of his time working with musicians, filmmakers, designers, illustrators, directors, actors, dancers, animators and numerous other talented and innovative people.  Most recently he has been developing a number of initiatives around trade networks, independent touring and alternative currencies with a specific focus on the creative industries. Jeff has a degree in Economics, is a keen guitar player, and also lectures on music management and business.
Simon Dancey
Simon Dancey is Director of the Cultural Skills Unit at British Council. The Cultural Skills Unit is a worldwide initiative working across arts and education. The initiative involves detailed research into skills needs globally (initially in East Asia, Latin America and Europe) followed by the development of skills hubs and programmes, linked to the UK. The work covers policy, professional development/leadership and youth access.
 Before taking up this role, Simon was Director for British Council Wales and has held senior positions working with international cultural and creative policy at Creative & Cultural Skills and the UK Sector Skills Council, overseeing the international development of the companies whilst also introducing the first Creative Apprenticeships in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Simon has extensive experience working on community arts projects and as a professional artist. As a practitioner he has worked as a professional musician, producer, tour manager and sound engineer. He also directed large scale major events with the BBC, including Compass Point, the International Arts Festival and the Welsh Music Awards. As well as policy and practice, Simon is now working towards a PhD on international cultural policy, with a specific emphasis on Latin America.
Genevieve Pace’s academic background is in International Relations and Psychology which she studied at the University of Pretoria. She’s since gone on to work in a range of organisations in the creative and cultural sectors, and has been involved in managing a creative start-up and running her own design business in South Africa. As a Programme Manager at Creative United she oversees the business support programme that provides creative businesses in England with free advice and access to loan finance. She’s currently involved in planning and delivering a Creative Skills Exchange with a partner organisation based in Nairobi- the HEVA Fund. Genevieve is passionate about promoting the growth of the African creative economy and its contribution to development in Africa; as well as looking at the impact of policies and how Africa’s creative and cultural outputs are valued internationally.
​Alessandro Jedlowski is a Belgian Research Fund (FNRS) post-doctoral fellow in anthropology at the University of Liège (Belgium). His current research analyses the political and economic dimensions of film production in the Nigerian film industry (Nollywood) and compares them with those of other film industries emerging around the African continent, and particularly in Ethiopia and Côte d’Ivoire. Beyond academic research, he has experiences as festival organizer and artistic director, as consultant, and as independent documentary filmmaker and producer. He is the author of numerous publications, including essays in the academic journals Television and New Media, The Global South, and Journal of African Cinemas, and chapters in the books Cultural Entrepreneurship in Africa (Routledge 2015), Copyright Africa: How Intellectual Properties, Media and Markets Transform Immaterial Cultural Goods (Sean Kingston 2016) and Production Studies, The Sequel!: Cultural Studies of Global Media Industries (Routledge 2015).