Coming to a Bookstore Near You — The Creative Industries and International Business Development in Africa
An imprint of Emerald Publishing, The Creative Industries and International Business Development in Africa takes an unorthodox approach to showcasing the trends and challenges of the contemporary creative economy with a view to positioning the sector for a global audience.
The book was conceived by chance after two African Professors met up in Accra. Following a range of deliberations and events, the idea was morphed into a documentation of the challenges and opportunities of this oft-neglected sector, capturing insights from the global value chain to everything digital — animation, arts, publishing, fashion, film and music streaming services. The book also touches upon contemporary topics/ events such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Brexit (the exit of Britain from the European Union or EU), the Commonwealth, as well as the march towards achieving the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The project’s life course was negatively impacted upon at the onset of lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing all prompted by covid-19 being declared a global pandemic in March 2020. These restrictions have limited the revenue generation capacity of both countries and businesses — large and small. In terms of sector impact, some have been more adversely affected than others. While the winners have been mostly those with a digital footprint e.g., streaming services and video-conferencing giants, the creative industries have felt a much harder blow.
Drawing upon the categorisations of the UK’s Creative Industries Federation, the book interrogates, and highlights, the challenges and opportunities of the creative industries in Africa. This is with a view to aggregating how the sector has coped with a myriad of challenges even before the pandemic.
Discussions across the chapters document the changing landscape of the sector, capturing insights across the global value chain— from arts to publishing, fashion, film and music production and distribution. In all these, the narratives seem to be changing at a fast pace including one documented in The New York Times, “South African Filmmakers Move Beyond Apartheid Stories.”
The book is available in a range of retail outlets from Amazon to Waterstones, the 9-chapter project can be access and purchased at the Emerald Bookstore.
Contents
Part I. The Landscape of Creative Industries in Africa
Chapter 1. Introduction to the landscape of creative industries in Africa
Chapter 2. Challenges and opportunities of Africa’s creative industries
Part II. Strategies for Developing Africa’s Creative Industries
Chapter 3. The African creative industry in a free trade area
Chapter 4. Re-engaging with Europe and the Commonwealth in a post-Brexit era
Part III. Digitalisation and African Creative industries
Chapter 5. Africa in the age of digitalisation
Chapter 6. The legal landscape and challenge
Part IV. Best Practice Case Studies
Chapter 7. Value co-creation of places and spaces in Africa’s creative hubs
Chapter 8. Country level case studies
Part V. Back to the Future
Chapter 9. The future of Africa’s creative industries
