Lagos hosts Création Africa Forum
as France bets big on African creativity, culture and technology
The excitement inside the Federal Palace Hotel on Lagos Island was electrifying as the city hosted Forum Création Africa, a major event that brought together some of the continent’s finest creative and digital entrepreneurs.
The forum, the largest of its kind dedicated to Africa’s cultural and creative sectors, gathered over a thousand participants from 42 nations, ushering in a daring new age of Franco-African collaboration centred around culture, technology, and sustainability.
From filmmakers to fashion designers, from animators to artificial intelligence developers, delegates arrived not merely to network, but to rewrite the narrative of Africa’s place in the global future. For many, the gathering felt less like a conference and more like a cultural and technological renaissance unfolding in real time.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who addressed the forum virtually, described the choice of Lagos as host city for the first African edition of Création Africa as “an obvious decision.”
“Lagos is not only a creative powerhouse in Africa, it is a global reference for cultural innovation,” Macron said. “You have gathered in this vibrant city to explore new perspectives, foster collaborations and spark creative energy.”
Macron emphasised that Création Africa is more than another cultural showcase, it is an accelerator for shared innovation between Africa and Europe.
“It’s a powerful opportunity to bring people together across borders, across languages, and to shape the stories of today and tomorrow. Stories that reflect our evolving societies,” he said.
He revealed that the forum is guided by MansA, Maison des Mondes Africains, a major new cultural institution based in Paris dedicated exclusively to promoting contemporary African creativity.
Delivering the opening address, Elizabeth “Liz” Gomiz, Director of MansA, spoke in unapologetic terms about Africa’s new role in the world’s cultural future.
“Africa is not waiting to be seen, it is already setting the rhythm,” she declared. “From fashion to gaming, from VR to AI, African creativity is rewriting the code of global culture.”
She emphasised that Création Africa is not merely a conference but an economic and strategic platform. “We see creation not as decoration,” she said, “but as a lever for global innovation. Culture is not an afterthought, it is the engine of transformation.”
Gomiz argued that culture is soft power no longer: “Culture produces meaning, and meaning produces power, the power to shape perception, to move markets, to define reality.”
Her concluding line drew applause across the hall: “The next revolution will not be televised, it will be designed, coded, filmed, composed, and it will be African.”
Among the standout exhibitions was Heritage in Motion, presented by Zara Odu of the Roundabout Community, a digital and physical hub focused on circularity, sustainability and future-forward African innovation.
“The value of African innovation lies in going back to our roots,” she said. “Our indigenous techniques, hand-weaving, textile recycling, natural dyeing, are not relics. They are technologies.”
She emphasised that African craft systems are inherently sustainable and scalable, not nostalgic. “African craft has always been innovative,” she said, “not through machinery, but through deep material intelligence and adaptability.”
Her message resonated strongly with technologists, especially in panel discussions examining the role of artificial intelligence in creative economies. The consensus was firm: AI should not erase African originality, but extend it.
Beyond cultural solidarity, France used the forum to reaffirm its economic and technological commitments to Nigeria.
