African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) investment arm has appointed One Street Studios as co-general partner of a Pan-African Film Fund targeting as much as $1 billion in investments, as the lender seeks to unlock financing for one of the continent’s fastest-growing but undercapitalized industries.
The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), Afreximbank’s development impact investment arm, said the partnership will accelerate the rollout of the Pan-African Film Fund, launched in May 2025 under the bank’s Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) initiative. The fund will invest across Africa’s film, television and immersive media sectors with the aim of making the continent a globally competitive center for audiovisual production.
The fund will finance projects spanning content creation, production infrastructure and distribution through a mix of equity, quasi-equity and structured financing. It will focus on export-oriented projects with international commercial potential and will work with studios, streaming platforms and distributors to strengthen global market access for African productions.
The initiative reflects Afreximbank’s broader strategy of expanding financing beyond traditional sectors such as trade and manufacturing into the creative economy, which policymakers increasingly view as a source of jobs, export earnings and economic diversification.
Beyond production financing, the fund plans to invest throughout the audiovisual value chain, including television and film development, digital streaming platforms, cinemas, production studios and post-production facilities. The objective is to address longstanding financing and infrastructure gaps that have limited the industry’s ability to scale despite growing global demand for African content.
Under the partnership, FEDA and One Street Studios will jointly manage the investment platform, combining institutional capital with creative industry expertise. One Street Studios said its model integrates financing, content development and production while connecting African creators with the diaspora to expand the global reach of African-owned stories.
“The partnership between FEDA and One Street Studios is most timely and strategic as it serves as a crucial bridge uniting the diaspora with geographic Africa but also empowers our creative economy to take full ownership of our narratives, enabling us to produce what we consume and consume what we produce,” Afreximbank President and Chairman George Elombi said.
Lavaille Lavette, Chief Executive Officer of the Pan-African Film Fund and Managing Partner at One Street Studios/JVL Media, said the fund would provide patient capital needed to strengthen Africa’s creative industries.
“Africa’s creative industries are entering a defining moment. Through the Pan-African Film Fund, we will mobilise long-term capital that supports creators, strengthens production capacity, and builds sustainable global distribution pathways for African storytelling.”
FEDA Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Assiak said the initiative would help African creators compete internationally.
“African storytelling carries extraordinary cultural depth and universal relevance. Through the Pan-African Film Fund, FEDA is enabling creators to produce world-class content while connecting them with global audiences and long-term investment capital.”
The latest announcement advances Afreximbank’s CANEX strategy, which was created to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries through financing, trade promotion and market access. The bank expects the Pan-African Film Fund to help build a sustainable investment ecosystem for African audiovisual content while boosting the sector’s contribution to economic growth, employment and exports.
