Abuja: Participants at the just concluded Africa Tourism and Creative Economy Expo (AFTCREE) in Abuja have called on African governments to ensure seamless access to funds earmarked for developing the tourism and creative sectors. They made the call in a communique jointly issued and signed at the end of the expo by the Chairman and Secretary of the Communique Draft Committee, Mr Amos Sakaba and Uwemedimo Ukpong respectively.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the maiden edition of AFTCREE attracted participants from 17 countries, 15 Nigerian states, and diverse public and private sector organisations. The participants resolved that African governments should introduce reforms, incentives, and enabling policies that attract domestic and foreign investments, as well as grants and support from development partners.
They emphasised that African governments should prioritise tourism and the creative sectors by integrating them into their respective economies to raise Africa’s share of global trade from less than 3 percent to 10 percent by 2030. The goal is also to expand global tourism revenue share from 5 percent to at least 20 percent by 2030, potentially reducing poverty, creating jobs, and advancing the UN Sustainable Development Agenda.
The communique further suggested that governments across Africa should emulate Nigeria’s model by consolidating relevant agencies within the Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy sectors under a single coordinating structure for enhanced synergy, efficiency, and productivity. It was also recommended that African countries institutionalise robust legal and regulatory systems to support the growth, protection, and sustainability of the tourism and creative industries.
Participants expressed that AFTCREE should be institutionalised as an annual continental event to enable Africa to monitor, measure, evaluate, and rank each country’s annual performance using the CultourMetre for tracking progress ahead of the 2030 target.
The Africa Tourism and Creative Economy Expo, organised by Afrocultour in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Arts Culture Tourism and Creative Economy, convened a continental assembly dedicated to celebrating Africa’s immense potential, cultural richness, and creative excellence. The expo, themed ‘Optimising Africa’s Comparative and Competitive Advantage for Accelerated Trade and Economic Growth,’ reaffirmed the continent’s capacity to position itself as a global force in Tourism, Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy.
The event highlighted the transformative power of collaboration and the strategic need to convert Africa’s tourism assets and resources, human capital, and innovation into sustainable engines of economic development. It also served as a platform for exchanging ideas, showcasing innovations, fostering partnerships, and deepening regional integration.
AFTCREE brought together diplomats, industry leaders, development partners, state governments, policymakers, investors, creative scholars, and a broad spectrum of stakeholders committed to unlocking Africa’s prosperity through trade in services and creativity.