ACEI Conference ‘Creative Economies in Africa’ Special Session: Call for papers

Dear Colleagues,
we are planning to organise a special session (or 2) on ‘Creative Economies in Africa’ at the upcoming Association for Cultural Economics International (ACEI) conference, taking place in Lille from 30 June to 3 July 2020. (Conference website: https://acei-2020.univ-lille.fr/ )
We would love to include a relevant paper from your work in the session.  The focus of the proposed special session is outlined in the abstract below - it is quite broad, and seeks to include a wide range of work on the economics of cultural and creative industries in the African context.
Please let us know if you would like to be include by the 15th of January, with your proposed paper title, list of authors and an abstract of no more than 500 words, so we can prepare the full proposal. Email the proposals to  creativeconomy.africa@gmail.com

Creative Economies in Africa(Proposed Special Session at ACEI 2020 https://acei-2020.univ-lille.fr/)
The growth and development of creative economies across the African continent has recently become the focus of academic research and policy concerns. In this special session we bring together recent work on the development of the creative and cultural industries as well as broader concerns about the impact of these activities on economies, communities and national development in a range of African countries. The papers included aim to develop a better understanding of the cultural and creative industries in African countries and to explore strategies to encourage and enable sustainable context-specific cultural, social and economic development.
The session will provide a platform for academics, creative practitioners, and policy and network bodies to reflect on their work and practice in relation to creative economies in Africa. It will facilitate knowledge exchanges between the Global North and the Global South, highlighting the importance of context specific knowledge and encouraging connections between local
cultural production networks.
Papers included can consider the following (but not exclusively):
- creative and cultural industries development in Africa
- urban cultural / creative policy interventions in African cities
- the role of festivals and cultural events in local and national development
- creative industries finance and intellectual policy concerns
- diversity and inclusion in creative economy labour markets
- African cultural policy in relation to the economic contribution of the cultural and creative industries. 

Dr Roberta Comunian & Prof. Jen Snowball