Osahon Akpata and the Architecture of African Film Capital

As African cinema gains recognition on the global stage, the continent’s filmmakers are navigating both unprecedented opportunities and enduring challenges. Osahon Akpata, a film executive and financier and the driving force behind CANEX Creations Incorporated, provides a perspective that bridges creative ambition and financial strategy. He notes that African cinema has made meaningful progress in recent years, with stronger creative vision, growing engagement from global festivals and distributors, and increasing interest from streaming platforms. Yet translating this momentum into a sustainable and scalable industry requires addressing persistent financial and structural constraints. Akpata frames these constraints around the flow of capital into film projects and the mechanisms through which value is realized. Without clarity on monetization and exit strategies, investors are unlikely to commit resources to African productions.

On the financing side, there is limited institutional capital. Film is widely perceived as high risk due to fragmented distribution channels, insufficient data, and limited visibility on returns. Financial institutions often require tangible collateral, leaving intellectual property, already vulnerable to piracy, undervalued as an asset. Compounding this challenge is a knowledge gap. Many banks and investors lack experience in film financing, while many filmmakers are unfamiliar with the commercial and risk frameworks that investors expect. Structural constraints are equally significant. Africa has approximately one thousand six hundred fifty-one cinema screens, representing roughly one screen per eight hundred thousand people, a stark contrast with India and the United States. The small subscriber base for streaming and pay television further limits licensing opportunities and revenue potential, which constrains production budgets. Reliable data for planning, pricing, and measuring demand is scarce, and there is still a chasm in skills and production capacity that make it difficult to deliver projects consistently and to international standards. These financial and structural limitations reinforce one another, creating systemic barriers that must be addressed through coordinated solutions in capital, infrastructure, data, and talent.

For Akpata, the source of funding is as important as its availability. He reflects on an African proverb that states, until the lion learns to write, every story glorifies the hunter. The provenance of capital shapes incentives, priorities, and creative perspectives. When projects are financed entirely by external partners, cultural, commercial, and political considerations from those investors naturally influence both narrative and business terms. African participation in financing, whether through co-productions or capital partnerships, ensures that creative control and commercial benefit remain rooted on the continent. And that’s why retention of intellectual property is central to this approach. CANEX Creations Incorporated works to strengthen the negotiating positions of producers so that deal structures allow for meaningful African participation in ownership, enabling creative works to maintain long-term value while still accessing global markets.

A notable example of this approach is the company’s involvement in Muganga: The One Who Treats, the story of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege. Akpata recounts that the team became involved shortly after the establishment of CANEX Creations in 2024, attracted by the potential and relevance of the narrative. By the time they joined, the project already had partners such as Canal+, France 3 Cinéma, France Télévisions, and Scope Pictures, with L’Atelier managing French theatrical distribution. The film premiered in Paris to over three hundred thousand admissions and generated more than three million euros at the box office. The involvement of CANEX Creations facilitated strong African involvement in both production and intellectual property, demonstrating the importance of capital provenance in preserving creative and commercial agency.

Akpata emphasizes the critical role of development in African cinema. He compares the development phase to angel investing in the venture world, the highest-risk capital stage where most value is created. A compelling project requires more than a script; it demands a package that includes a producer, director, early cast attachments, a credible budget, and a clear marketing route. It requires the producer having necessary skills and funding to push their projects. It also demands making intelligent investment decisions throughout the production stage. With these elements in place, one can now think of a reliable distribution pipeline for the globally competitive African films.

Akpata’s own career reflects a unique convergence of creativity and business acumen. He published his first book at the age of eleven and later studied Accounting and Finance in the United Kingdom before earning an MBA from Columbia Business School. He had an early exposure to the marketing and distribution of independent film and digital rights management for emerging streaming platforms, which provided him with a rare understanding of how content is valued, packaged, and monetized globally. His experience includes work with Cinetic Media and the production of Nollywood in Focus, both of which strengthened his perspective on content as a means of cultural expression and scalable commercial asset. These experiences inform his approach to African film today, allowing him to deploy capital with discipline while championing stories capable of reaching global audiences.

Through CANEX Creations, Akpata aims for a more integrated, commercially viable, and connected African film ecosystem. The company focuses on connecting development, production, distribution, and monetization, encouraging cross-border collaboration, and reducing fragmentation across markets. It applies disciplined investment standards to ensure projects are bankable and leverages the continental and global networks of Afreximbank to connect filmmakers with strategic partners and international markets. At the same time, the company prioritizes capacity building to strengthen producers, studios, and intermediaries. Akpata believes that the films most likely to reshape global perceptions of Africa are authentic, genre-confident, and resonate across borders while reflecting the continent’s diversity and creative ambition. CANEX Creations seeks to support these projects, ensuring that African intellectual property reaches international audiences while allowing African creators and institutions to retain meaningful stakes in the value they generate.

Akpata’s vision proves his unwavering faith in the future of African cinema. With strategic investment, institutional support, and a focus on building sustainable systems, he believes stories can be rightly excavated from the continent excellently packaged and exported for cultural legacy and enduring economic value.