LocationsHeritage, enterprise and Africa’s creative economy: Five young African women on the creative systems turning heritage, imagination and voice into livelihoods
September 3, 2026
An Imigongo pattern moves from a Rwandan wall onto a modern garment. A Comorian wedding gathers designers, photographers and musicians into a working economy. In Sierra Leone, a festival carries fashion, food and storytelling toward new audiences. Angolan rhythms travel through dance schools and digital platforms across continents. West African songs and images enter civic life with a language people recognize.
These scenes reveal a creative economy already producing identity, income, and influence. Camélia Cherkaoui, a Moroccan-French fellow placed in Senegal, captures its human force: “Across West Africa, creativity has become both a mirror and a lifeline.” Across the reflections of five African Young Women Leaders fellows, culture emerges as productive infrastructure: a store of knowledge, a field of work and a source of power through which African societies imagine and organize their futures.
Across West Africa, creativity has become both a mirror and a lifeline.Camélia Cherkaoui, 4th cohort AfYWL Fellow
Heritage enters the value chain
Sangwa Marvella Mutabazi, a Rwandan fellow placed in Nigeria, traces how the Made in Rwanda initiative helped introduce Imigongo into contemporary fashion. Local tailors carried a form historically crafted by women into a national brand and wider markets. Sangwa then widens the lens to a continental movement: “Afrobeats is a prime example of a movement creating both cultural and economic value.” For her, education and finance determine whether young Africans can turn talent into a durable profession.
Afrobeats is a prime example of a movement creating both cultural and economic value.Sangwa Marvella Mutabazi, 4th cohort AfYWL Fellow
Milzat Saidat Fatma Salime, from Comoros and placed in Ethiopia, begins with everyday cultural life: traditional clothing, wedding ceremonies, music and seashell crafts. “Together, these experiences highlight how, in Comoros, creativity serves both as a cultural anchor and a pathway to economic opportunity.” Her analysis shows how informal activity can connect with tourism, trade, digital markets and regional value chains while retaining the knowledge that gives a product meaning.
Janet Kalma Thorlie, a Sierra Leonean fellow placed in South Africa, locates the same connection in the Madengn Festival. “What stands out is how Madengn connects culture with livelihoods.” By bringing together music, fashion, food, art and other forms of creative expression, the festival gives Sierra Leonean creative entrepreneurs and businesses a platform to showcase their work and reach wider audiences, while celebrating Sierra Leonean identity in a contemporary form. Elizabeth Yonara Sebastiao Moises, an Angolan fellow placed in New York, brings in O Pensador and Samakaka. “One important cultural symbol is O Pensador, rooted in Chokwe traditions.” Alongside Samakaka’s movement into fashion and design, it illustrates how cultural continuity can inspire dialogue and enterprise.
The sector behind the spotlight
Creative value travels through many hands. A music project engages producers, videographers, marketers, event organizers and digital distributors. A festival supports food vendors, designers, venues and transport. A film or fashion brand activates technology, tourism and trade. Camélia makes the reach vivid: “A song uploaded in a bedroom can travel across borders. A film made on a modest budget can shape global perceptions.”
The fellows identify institutions that help this value circulate. Janet writes: “Creative Hub Africa is a compelling example of how Sierra Leone's creative sector can generate both cultural and economic value.” The hub provides physical and digital spaces where creative entrepreneurs and small businesses can access skills, mentorship, networks, and opportunities to grow. Milzat points to Comores Expo, where the diaspora meets entrepreneurs and artisans from Comoros. “It demonstrates how culture can serve as both a bridge and an engine for entrepreneurship, linking innovation and local talent with global opportunities.” Elizabeth follows kizomba, semba and kuduro from Angolan social life into festivals, cultural tours and dance schools with global reach.
Creative Hub Africa is a compelling example of how Sierra Leone's creative sector can generate both cultural and economic value.Janet Kalma Thorlie, 4th cohort AfYWL Fellow
Treat creative labour as economic policy
The fellows’ policy agenda begins with status. “First, it would take taking creatives seriously.” Camélia places this recognition at the foundation of reform. Sangwa places creative capability at the heart of learning: “If we want a creative economy, we must start by making creativity a core part of every student's education.” Schools can cultivate artistic skill alongside the financial, digital and entrepreneurial knowledge required to build a career.
Elizabeth is equally clear: “Supporting creatives requires a systemic approach.” That system includes affordable finance, intellectual property protection, formal contracts, studios, reliable internet and routes into export markets. Milzat links these foundations with social protection and market access: “Supporting artists and creatives, particularly women, requires recognizing the creative economy as an important sector for inclusive growth and putting in place an enabling ecosystem.” Janet adds safe working environments, creative hubs and industry networks. Together, their proposals treat women as investors, employers, rights-holders and decision-makers across the sector.
Supporting artists and creatives, particularly women, requires recognizing the creative economy as an important sector for inclusive growth and putting in place an enabling ecosystem.Milzat Saidat Fatma Salime, 4th cohort AfYWL Fellow
Culture also governs how change is understood
Economic value forms part of a wider public role. Creative work shapes memory, belonging and the language of collective action. Camélia’s formulation is memorable: “Songs carry history. Comedy lowers fear. Images make injustice visible in ways reports never can.” She points to creative activism in Nigeria and Senegal as a source of civic education, professional opportunity and cultural legitimacy.
Milzat emphasizes storytelling that makes inequality visible and informs conversations on policy and ethical choices. Janet places creativity within social cohesion, community knowledge and problem-solving. Elizabeth recalls music and dance as part of Angola’s social reconstruction after civil war, helping rebuild shared identity and civic voice. Her conclusion reaches directly into development practice: “When development ignores creativity, it misses one of the most effective ways people understand change.”
When development ignores creativity, it misses one of the most effective ways people understand change.Elizabeth Yonara Sebastiao Moises, 4th cohort AfYWL Fellow
A creative economy with its roots intact
The fellows offer a compelling economic proposition. Africa’s cultural wealth already sustains work, moves across borders and shapes public life. Its productive capacity grows through the connection of heritage with education, finance, technology, rights and regional markets.
The pattern is already visible: artists become employers, festivals become marketplaces, cultural symbols become design languages and stories become civic infrastructure. Institutions can strengthen this momentum by financing the ecosystems around creative work and sharing decision-making power with the women building them. Africa’s creative economy can expand with its roots intact, carrying value outward while keeping knowledge, ownership and opportunity close to the communities from which they rise.