The 2025 Africa Film Finance Forum (AFFF) opened in Lagos on Tuesday with a call to harness Africa’s vast storytelling potential and build a $20 billion film economy.
The three-day summit, themed “Pan-African Film Economy: Building a $20B Industry for 1.4 Billion People”, runs from September 16 to 18.
Convener Mary Ephraim-Egbas urged governments, investors and private organisations to work together in tackling the systemic weaknesses that have long stunted the industry.
“We gather under one banner of possibility, of shared purpose, and of storytelling as the currency of our common destiny,” she said.
“We are not here merely to discuss film. We are here to ignite a Pan-African movement – one that can create prosperity, dignity, and unity for 1.4 billion Africans.”
She noted that Africa’s “significant talents” are admired globally but insisted that its film economy “remains undercapitalised, fragmented, and undervalued.”
Ephraim-Egbas stressed that the challenge is not creativity but lack of strategic investment and infrastructure. She envisions African cinema competing “shoulder-to-shoulder with Hollywood and Bollywood – not as imitators, but as originators.”
She also underscored the job-creation potential of the industry, urging banks and investors to look beyond oil and minerals to cultural wealth. “This is not just about film. This is about jobs. About the enterprise. About turning creativity into capital,” she said.
She concluded with a charge to leaders and financiers: “We must finance not just films, but futures.”
The forum ends September 18 with discussions expected to chart a roadmap for a Pan-African film economy.
