The Africa Film Finance Forum (AFFF) is set to return to Lagos from October 5 to 7, bringing together finance and creative-sector leaders to explore new ways of funding Africa’s growing film industry.
The specialised forum, which forms part of Film Week Africa 2026, will focus on strengthening the financial infrastructure needed to support the continent’s film and audiovisual sectors.
The three-day gathering is expected to attract filmmakers, producers, investors, banks, development finance institutions, insurers, government representatives, policymakers and other stakeholders in the creative economy.
Discussions will centre on practical financing models capable of moving African film projects beyond dependence on grants and isolated funding initiatives. Key areas will include institutional capital, credit and completion guarantees, insurance, risk management, intellectual property, co-production, distribution and access to international markets.
A major feature of this year’s forum will be the unveiling of the Africa Film Finance, Insurance and Risk Management Framework (AFFIRM), an initiative designed to tackle some of the structural risks that have historically discouraged institutional investment in African film projects.
AFFIRM will bring together financing and risk-management mechanisms, including credit and completion guarantees, production insurance, financial institutions and qualified film projects.
The forum will also introduce Women in Film & Finance (WIFF), which aims to improve women’s access to financial education, mentorship, business development support, professional networks and investment-readiness opportunities.
The initiative is also expected to create stronger connections between women-led creative enterprises and financial institutions.
Founder of the Africa Film Finance Forum, Mary Ephraim-Egbas, said Africa’s challenge was not necessarily a shortage of capital but the absence of adequate structures for connecting available funds with viable film projects.
She said the industry needed financial institutions that understand the peculiarities of film production, insurers equipped to assess production risks, guarantee institutions capable of unlocking credit and investors who appreciate the value of intellectual property.
Ephraim-Egbas said the next stage of the industry’s development should focus on creating mechanisms that can turn relationships between finance and film stakeholders into actual transactions.
She described AFFIRM as an important component of that effort, noting that Africa would need more sustainable financing structures to build a globally competitive film industry.
Award-winning actress, filmmaker and AFFF Advisory Board member Stephanie Linus also welcomed the initiative, saying it could help remove some of the structural obstacles that have restricted institutional capital from flowing into Africa’s film sector.
Linus said the proposed framework could provide greater clarity around risk management, insurance, guarantees and investor confidence, areas that have traditionally made film financing more difficult to secure.
The organisers said the 2026 edition would ultimately seek to deepen cooperation between the creative and financial sectors and create practical pathways for financing commercially viable African film and audiovisual projects.
