CANEX 2026 will drive investments, jobs, partnerships beyond showcase – Musawa
The federal government says the 2026 Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX WKND) will go beyond showcasing Nigeria’s creative talent to generate investments, create jobs and facilitate business partnerships.
The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, stated this at a joint ministerial briefing on Nigeria’s preparations to host the event at the ITF Skills House, Maitama, Abuja.
Musawa described CANEX as a strategic economic platform designed to promote interconnectivity and growth, saying it would provide an opportunity to project Nigeria’s creative capacity to the global market.
She said President Bola Tinubu established the Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy to provide the government structure needed to unlock the economic potential of a sector that had developed organically over the years.
According to her, Nigerian music, film, fashion and cultural heritage have established the country as a major force in the global creative industry, but government must provide the right environment to translate the talent into economic prosperity.
“This is a shared responsibility. It is not the responsibility of one ministry. We are working together with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and Afreximbank because we cannot deliver Mr President’s vision of economic diversification alone,” she said.
Musawa said the decision to hold CANEX at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts, formerly the National Theatre, nearly 50 years after FESTAC ’77, was symbolic.
“While FESTAC put the Black community on the global map, CANEX will build on that legacy to reaffirm Nigeria as Africa’s cultural and creative capital,” she said.
