AFRIFF Launches New Int’l Film & Content Market for Africa

Africa International Film Festival Launches New Film & Content Market (AFCM) in Nigeria

The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) has launched the ARIFF Film and Content Market (AFCM) via a partnership with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy.

The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) has announced the launch of the AFRIFF Film and Content Market (AFCM), a new international marketplace for film, television, and digital content, set to debut at the 2025 edition of AFRIFF in Lagos, Nigeria. The initiative was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival through a partnership with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and Creative Economy.

Former European Film Market (EFM) director Dennis Ruh has been appointed as lead consultant for AFCM, which will look to welcomer creators, investors, distributors and policymakers from around the world and aims to attract creators, investors, distributors, and policymakers from around the globe. The MOU for the market was signed in Cannes on Tuesday, May 20, by AFRIFF founder Chioma Ude, with Nigerian officials including Hannatu Musawa, Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, in attendance.

Minister Musawa emphasized the Nigerian government’s commitment to expanding the economic potential of the country’s creative industry, stating, “One of the ways we have cultivated in doing that is by not only partnering with the private sector, but by truly working with key industry players to create an amicable environment. This is pivotal to the Federal Government in our push to propel the industry to greater heights.”The inaugural AFCM will feature curated showcases of African and international content, project pitching sessions, international exhibitions for production and distribution entities, and extensive networking opportunities. AFRIFF, which has been running since 2010, typically takes place in November.

Further bolstering the new market, UK-based financier Goldfinch International, part of the Goldfinch finance and production group, has also partnered with AFRIFF and will use AFCM as a launchpad for several new Africa-focused initiatives, details of which are yet to be announced. This development signals a significant step in hening the infrastructure and global reach of the African content industry.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy was active in Cannes, talking up plans to invest $300m into the country’s screen industries and introducing recently launched film promotion agency, Screen Nigeria, which hosted the first ever Nigeria Pavilion in the International Village.The country remains massively under-screened with just over 300 screens for a population of around 240 million – the biggest population by far in Africa. In the past, Nigerian producers have mostly relied on digital revenue, often targeting the higher spending diaspora population in the UK and North America, but are now exploring other ways to recoup.

AFRIFF has run since 2010, typically in November. The festival has also partnered with UK-based financier Goldfinch International, part of finance and production group Goldfinch.

Goldfinch International will use AFCM as a launchpad for several yet-to-be-announced Africa-focused initiatives.