Manny Ita –
Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Umaru Kwairanga, has called on African capital markets and financial institutions to move beyond their traditional focus on oil, banking and manufacturing by investing more aggressively in the continent’s rapidly growing creative and innovation economy.
Speaking at the Africa Soft Power Summit in Nairobi, Kwairanga said Africa’s booming music, film, technology and digital enterprise sectors should now be treated as viable investment asset classes capable of delivering long-term economic value and sustainable returns.
He noted that despite the global rise of African creatives and entertainers, the continent still lacks strong financing systems, monetisation structures and value chains that adequately reward artists and industry contributors.
Referencing stars such as Burna Boy, Tyla and Diamond Platnumz, Kwairanga questioned whether African creatives are fully benefiting from branding rights, copyrights, concerts and other commercial opportunities tied to their global popularity.
He also challenged African financial institutions to support innovation-driven businesses and technology ecosystems capable of producing continent-wide success stories similar to Safaricom.
According to him, the future of African capital markets will increasingly depend on sectors powered by intellectual property, artificial intelligence, creators, digital businesses and technology entrepreneurs. He stressed that exchanges across Africa must evolve to support emerging industries shaping the continent’s next phase of economic growth.
Kwairanga added that discussions at the summit would examine issues surrounding AI and data ownership, creator economics, diaspora capital and investment opportunities within Africa’s expanding innovation ecosystem.
His remarks come amid ongoing reforms at the Nigerian Exchange Limited aimed at deepening market participation and boosting trading activity. The exchange recently extended daily trading hours to improve liquidity and has also reported strong financial growth, posting a pre-tax profit of N5.98 billion in Q1 2026, driven by increased transaction activity across the market.
