Togo Moves to Finance Its Film Sector with FoNSICA

On 4 June 2026, the Togolese Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Arts held a two-day workshop to review and operationalize the National Fund for Support of the Film and Audiovisual Industry (FoNSICA). Held under the Minister of Culture, Isaac Tchiakpé, the workshop was to validate the drafted inter-ministerial orders aimed at making this financing mechanism for Togo’s film and audiovisual sector fully functional.

FoNSICA is designed as a public financing mechanism for Togo’s film and audiovisual sector. The workshop invited participants, including professional film and audiovisual associations, the National Assembly, the ministry responsible for finance, the Togolese Revenue Office, and Télévision Togolaise, the public television broadcaster, to thoroughly examine the proposed texts, provide contributions, and reach a consensus on the implementation modalities of FoNSICA. The conclusions and recommendations from the discussions would pave the way for finalizing the regulatory framework and the effective launch of this fund, which is eagerly awaited by Togolese film and audiovisual professionals.

The workshop was organized with the National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image (CNCIA), Togo’s state cinema agency. In his welcome address, the Director General of CNCIA recalled that the workshop reflects the government’s commitment to finding the right means to make FoNSICA operational. He traced the path of reforms undertaken for several years in favor of the film sector, including the adoption of the law on cinema and animated images on September 29, 2021, and the issuance of several implementation decrees.

The law on cinema and animated images was the first time Togo’s film industry had a dedicated law that officially recognizes film and audiovisual industry as a cultural and economic sector. The law created the CNCIA to manage the sector and started conversations around FoNSICA. Thus, the workshop outlined FoNSICA’s funding sources as parafiscal taxes, registration fees related to the issuance of authorizations, the special tax for contribution to the development of film production, as well as donations and other authorized resources. The main objective of the workshop was to validate the draft inter-ministerial orders needed for the effective application of the decree on the organization and operation of the fund. Participants are tasked with examining the legal, administrative, and technical aspects of the proposed texts, harmonizing contributions from different stakeholders, and ensuring compliance with current legal and regulatory provisions.

With this new progress, Togo is getting closer to establishing a financial instrument that film professionals have been waiting for several years, aimed at strengthening production, distribution, and competitiveness of national cinema. When activated, the Togolese FoNSICA will join the small list of African public facing funds dedicated to local filmmakers. The NFC’s N!xau ≠Toma Film Fund is one of the few active government-led national film funds on the continent. The South African National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), Moroccan Centre Cinématographique Marocain (CCM), Kenyan Kenya Film Commission (KFC), Senegal Film and Audiovisual Industry Promotion Fund Call For Projects (FOPICA), and Côte d’Ivoire’s Fonds de Soutien à l’Industrie Cinématographique (FONSIC) are a few national film and audiovisual support funds. These funds provide financial grants and support to local producers and directors to boost local film creation, artistic quality, and industry competitiveness. 

As projected, FoNSICA will directly address one of Togo’s biggest bottlenecks in film: money. By funding development, production, post-production, and distribution, it enables Togolese filmmakers to make higher-quality films without relying only on foreign grants or self-financing. The fund’s sources (parafiscal taxes, fees, and donations) means it’ll be recurring, not a one-off grant. For Togolese film professionals, this financial stability will push the sector from “informal projects” to structured companies, create jobs for technicians, actors, and crew, and set technical standards through CNCIA oversight. 

A national fund signals a serious, regulated framework, which can attract international partnerships. Economically, a stronger audiovisual sector feeds adjacent industries, including tourism, transportation, events, and others. If managed well as Minister Tchiakpé emphasized, FoNSICA could transform Togolese cinema as a financially viable and visible industry beyond its national borders.