The Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Alhaji Umaru Kwairanga, has called on African capital markets and financial institutions to expand beyond traditional industries such as oil, banking, and manufacturing by embracing the continent’s fast-growing creative and innovative economy as a viable investment asset class.
“Given the increasing popularity of our arts, our music, and our movies, African financial institutions need to take the creative and innovation economy seriously as an asset class rather than just a cultural footnote,” Kwairanga stated during his opening remarks at the Africa Soft Power Summit on Thursday in Nairobi, Kenya. The summit, convened by the Africa Soft Power Group, focuses on strengthening the intersection between Africa’s creative industries, technology ecosystem, and capital markets, while exploring how the continent can convert its growing global cultural influence into sustainable economic value.
Kwairanga noted that although some African artists are beginning to enjoy international recognition and financial success, many creative sectors across the continent still lack proper monetisation structures, financing systems, and value chains capable of rewarding all participants.
“Are artists such as Tyla, Burna Boy, or Diamond Platnumz fully exploiting the benefits derivable from branding, copyrights, ticket and concert revenues, and so forth? Is there a value chain in Nollywood or the East African movie industry that properly rewards the thousands who, in one way or another, contribute to the light that our creative artists radiate?” he asked.
He further raised concerns about how Africa can reproduce the success of firms like Safaricom across its expanding technology ecosystems without more robust financing structures and institutional backing. Kwairanga, according to Nairametrics, further stressed that African exchanges and financial institutions must evolve in line with changing economic realities by supporting innovation-driven businesses and helping them scale sustainably.
“As Africa’s economies become increasingly driven by innovation, digital enterprise, intellectual property, and creative talent, our role is not only to provide platforms for capital formation but also to help build the ecosystem that allows these sectors to scale sustainably,” he said.
He added that future exchanges across Africa must broaden their focus beyond traditional industries and connect more directly with the continent’s emerging generation of creators and innovators.
“We believe the Exchange of the future must be connected not just to traditional industries, but also to the ideas, creators, entrepreneurs, and technology-driven businesses shaping Africa’s next chapter of growth,” he stated.
The call by the NGX Group Chairman comes at a critical juncture for Nigeria’s capital market, which has historically been dominated by heavy industrial, telecommunications, and tier-one banking equities. By actively pitching the creative sector at continental dialogues like the Africa Soft Power Summit, market leaders aim to attract structured institutional portfolio investments into intellectual property, film infrastructure, and digital tech hubs, moving the sector away from its historical reliance on informal, ad-hoc funding models.