Kenya’s tourism sector stands to gain significantly from a new continental framework that positions fashion, film and music as the anchors of Africa’s emerging economy, according to outcomes from a landmark forum convened y the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat in Accra, Ghana from November 24-26, 2025.
The three-day gathering brought together policymakers, entrepreneurs and innovators from over 20 African countries to address the opportunities and challenges facing the continent’s filmmakers, musicians, fashion designers and tourism professionals – with Kenya featuring prominently in discussions about digital transformation and cross-border collaboration.
For young Kenyans navigating an increasingly competitive global market, the forum’s sessions on artificial intelligence, virtual reality and streaming platforms offered a roadmap for scaling their work beyond local boundaries.
Kevin Okeyo, founder & CEO of Mediakits, highlighted the digital platform’s approach to addressing financial barriers that have long constrained cross-border trade across Africa.
“Our platform offers a digital credit scoring systems, automated income pooling, AI-driven financial management tools and interoperable cross-border payment systems – all designed to ease business operations under the AfCFTA framework,” he said.
The forum’s digital transformation sessions highlighted how Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing content creation, video editing, marketing and predictive analytics, while Virtual Reality technologies are opening new possibilities for immersive storytelling, virtual exhibitions and innovative tourism experiences.
For the continent’s growing tech-savvy creative community, these tools represent practical pathways to compete on continental and global stages.
And as Khadijat El-Alawa, Head of Music and Talent for AfroFuture, pointed out, African songs often gain global recognition before reaching neighbouring countries due to weak intra-African connectivity and fragmented licensing systems.
The forum emphasized the need to strengthen local platforms that can retain revenue within the continent, rather than allowing value to flow exclusively to international services, noting that over 85% of Africa’s 1.4 billion population discover music through YouTube and over 70% through TikTok, underscoring the dominance of visual content.
“We can’t leave money on the table,” El-Alawa stressed, calling for Africa to build its own systems – from metadata integrity to streaming regulation – to keep value on the continent. “If we connect our markets, strengthen our platforms and build what speaks to us, we can protect our culture, scale our artists and secure the future of African music,” she stated.
The forum placed significant emphasis on the AfCFTA’s Trade in Services protocol which offers artists unprecedented access to a continental market of 1.3 billion people.
In his keynote address, AfCFTA Secretary-General H.E. Wamkele Mene outlined the protocol’s specific benefits, including frameworks for intellectual property rights protection, digital trade acceleration, cross-border mobility for artists and the removal of barriers to market access.
“The creative sector is a priority frontier for intra-African trade,” he noted, adding that “a unified African market is essential for scaling creatives.”
These policies are particularly relevant for Kenya, whose relatively small domestic market has historically limited the commercial viability of large-scale creative projects.
Under AfCFTA, filmmakers, musicians and fashion designers can now structure their work for regional distribution from the outset, dramatically expanding their potential audience and revenue streams.
Several speakers at the forum highlighted how countries with smaller populations – including Botswana and Ghana – are already leveraging AfCFTA protocols to expand markets for their creators, offering a model for other countries to adapt.
Additionally, experts noted the critical linkage between creative industries and tourism as interconnected economic drivers. Participants emphasized the need to deploy film, music and fashion to strengthen Africa’s’ soft power globally, in the process attracting investment and expanding export opportunities. However, significant barriers remain.
Olayiwola Awakan, Director General of Nigeria’s Tourism Development Authority cautioned that “until we talk about and break the barriers of visa restrictions, we cannot do tourism at its best in Africa”.
This mobility challenge directly affects countries’ ability to host continental festivals, film productions and creative collaborations – areas where Kenya has natural competitive advantages but remains constrained by regional travel difficulties.
For Kenya’s young creatives, embracing digital tools, understanding intellectual property rights and positioning their products for continental markets emerged as clear areas for immediate action.
“This is the core of our work as the AfCFTA Secretariat and under the protocols for trade in services, intellectual property and digital trade, we have brought together the cultural, creative and tourism sectors to ensure that they are protected and able to thrive” said Ms. Emily Mburu-Ndoria, Director of Trade in Services at the AfCFTA Secretariat.
