Cultural and Creative Industries Supporting Activities in Sub-Saharan Africa: Mapping and Analysis

Abstract

Over the last 20 years, the power of cultural and creative industries (CCIs) as enablers and drivers of sustainable development has been broadly recognised. They are viewed as critical to social cohesion, social and economic transformation, and political stability. For this reason, it is important to explore and analyse what kind of CCIs supporting strategies, programmes and projects are in place in Sub-Saharan Africa, how they are working and their practical impacts. Furthermore, to deeply understand these dynamics and be able to provide accurate recommendations, this research looked not only at the practical cases of programmes developed multilaterally by the EU but also those developed individually by European countries’ cultural institutions. The authors show how, where and why CCIs programmes are implemented and put forward a case for more sustainable projects with a stronger focus on local ownership.