Abuja: Malam Denja Abdullahi, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Africa Tourism and Creative Economy Expo (AFTCREE), has announced the unveiling of ‘Cultourmetre’, a digital tool designed to monitor the progress that African countries are making in tourism and the creative economy. He emphasized that the expo is meticulously crafted to ensure measurable and sustainable outcomes.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, AFTCREE is set to take place from November 24 to 25, 2025, in Abuja. Abdullahi explained that the expo aims to provide a concrete roadmap for Africa to expand its share of global trade through the culture-tourism corridor. With the theme ‘Optimising Africa’s Comparative and Competitive Advantage for Accelerated Trade and Economic Growth’, the event will gather policymakers, investors, development partners, and cultural stakeholders from across the continent.
Abdullahi highlighted a key objective of the expo: the launch of Agenda 2030, an ambitious initiative seeking to increase Africa’s contribution to global trade from less than 3 per cent to at least 10 per cent by 2030. The mission is to enhance Africa’s share of global tourism and creative industry revenue by fostering collaboration, peer review, and investment attraction across the continent. The LOC has secured strong institutional support, including endorsements from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) under the leadership of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the African Union (AU) Social Secretariat in Addis Ababa, and other regional partners.
The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, led by Hannatu Musawa, is hosting the expo in collaboration with Afrocultour Limited. The President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, will be the Special Guest of Honour, officially inaugurating the event.
In preparation for the expo, Abdullahi noted that the LOC has engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including African envoys, non-African foreign missions across America, Asia, Europe, and Australia, as well as tourism boards, development finance institutions, tour operators, airlines, and creative industry bodies. These engagements are expected to transform the expo into a continental platform for policy dialogue, business matchmaking, investment fairs, and cultural exchanges.
Mr Chuks Akamadu, Managing Director of Afrocultour Ltd. and Chief Executive Officer of the expo, described culture and tourism as Africa’s ‘low-hanging fruits’ for economic transformation. Despite Africa’s exports reaching approximately 614.58 billion dollars in 2023, the continent still accounts for less than three per cent of global trade and only five per cent of global tourism revenue. Akamadu stressed that these figures are unacceptable and underscored the importance of the expo as a platform to change the narrative. He advocated for Africa to reduce its dependency on foreign aid by leveraging its vast cultural wealth, creative talent, and tourism potential, asserting that the time has come for the continent to take control of its destiny.