Africa's soft power: Can Africa's creativity transform the continent? A summary of a nine-country survey
Africa No Filter (2022), 16 pp.
Contains 15 figures
"1. In all nine countries where youth were polled, more than 85% of respondents believed that arts and culture were an important part of their society.
2. Creatives are influential and admired:An average of 82% of all respondents respected and admired creatives in their country.
3. Young Africans did not believe it was possible to make a good living in the creative sector: Only 4% of respondents worked in the creative sector. Only 13% believed the creative sector was lucrative; 39% believed there were too many barriers to success and 21% said there was no money to be made in the sector.
4. Business and entrepreneurship are the most lucrative sectors: Most respondents (48%) believed that entrepreneurs and businesspeople have the most earning capacity, followed by professional sports people (23%). Nearly half of all respondents (48%) believed a traditional career in sport was seen to be more lucrative than a career in the creative industry: 23% of the respondents felt they would make more money from football or basketball compared to 13% who opted for music and film. Of respondents from Cote D'Ivoire, 45% believed sport was more lucrative, and South Africans (22%) and Kenyans (19%) perceived social media influencers as earning more than creatives.
5. Proving that Africa is a market for creative content, young Africans are consuming African films equally as much as US or international content: Most respondents watched films every week, whether local/African films (67%) or US/international films (66%). Among respondents who had watched between one and seven films, slightly more respondents had watched local or African films (57%) than international or US films (53%).
6. African writers are not writing for African audiences … and worryingly, many African youths are not reading for pleasure: Hardly any respondents had read a book in the month before the interview; 75% had not read any international authors, and 71% had not read any African authors. This indicates that African authors are not attracting an African youth audience.
7. Film is the most appreciated creative platform: Of all the creative art forms, respondents were most likely to have watched films, whether local/African (57%) or international (53%).
8. Respondents were not spending much money on creative outputs: Although respondents believed that arts and culture (85%) was an important part of society, few were spending to support the sector. In the creative sector, 78% said they either spent nothing or “very little” on arts and culture pastimes." (Key insights, page 1)
2. Creatives are influential and admired:An average of 82% of all respondents respected and admired creatives in their country.
3. Young Africans did not believe it was possible to make a good living in the creative sector: Only 4% of respondents worked in the creative sector. Only 13% believed the creative sector was lucrative; 39% believed there were too many barriers to success and 21% said there was no money to be made in the sector.
4. Business and entrepreneurship are the most lucrative sectors: Most respondents (48%) believed that entrepreneurs and businesspeople have the most earning capacity, followed by professional sports people (23%). Nearly half of all respondents (48%) believed a traditional career in sport was seen to be more lucrative than a career in the creative industry: 23% of the respondents felt they would make more money from football or basketball compared to 13% who opted for music and film. Of respondents from Cote D'Ivoire, 45% believed sport was more lucrative, and South Africans (22%) and Kenyans (19%) perceived social media influencers as earning more than creatives.
5. Proving that Africa is a market for creative content, young Africans are consuming African films equally as much as US or international content: Most respondents watched films every week, whether local/African films (67%) or US/international films (66%). Among respondents who had watched between one and seven films, slightly more respondents had watched local or African films (57%) than international or US films (53%).
6. African writers are not writing for African audiences … and worryingly, many African youths are not reading for pleasure: Hardly any respondents had read a book in the month before the interview; 75% had not read any international authors, and 71% had not read any African authors. This indicates that African authors are not attracting an African youth audience.
7. Film is the most appreciated creative platform: Of all the creative art forms, respondents were most likely to have watched films, whether local/African (57%) or international (53%).
8. Respondents were not spending much money on creative outputs: Although respondents believed that arts and culture (85%) was an important part of society, few were spending to support the sector. In the creative sector, 78% said they either spent nothing or “very little” on arts and culture pastimes." (Key insights, page 1)
