Check out the episode:

You can find the transcripts through this link.

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Are you interested in how creative economise are contributing in Africa?

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Debate of the article titled Rethinking the contribution of creative economies in Africa to sustainable development. An empirical research of creative intermediaries in Accra’s contemporary art sector from 2025, by Jack D. Mensah, published in the International Journal of Cultural Policy.

This is a great preparation to our next interview with Raoul Rugamba in episode 416 talking about the opportunities within the African continent through arts and culture.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how African creative economies can better support sustainable development. This article advocates for a regenerative cultural policy that treats arts as a holistic tool for achieving sustainability rather than just a source of financial growth.

Find the article through this link.

Abstract: The Creative Economy (CE) has emerged as a significant cultural policy agenda, offering promising pathways to promote Sustainable Development (SD) in African countries. However, growth-focused CE paradigms often fail to reflect the empirical realities faced by cultural stakeholders in Africa, which may hinder the effective use of culture in advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Addressing this requires holistic, regenerative approaches to CEs that prioritise the system-enhancing qualities of culture and focus on how cultural workers collaborate and navigate dysfunctional cultural policy infrastructures. This article, therefore, examines the role of creative intermediaries in rethinking the conditions that may enable meaningful contributions toward the SDGs through CEs. Based on 14 days of fieldwork conducted in the visual arts community of Accra, Ghana, in July 2022, the empirical research identifies creative intermediaries as pivotal actors in Ghana’s CE, contributing in ways that align with the interconnected dimensions of the SDGs. This article proposes that cultural enabling is an intrinsic working practice of these creative intermediaries and a fundamental function of CEs. Thus, a regenerative cultural policy approach towards CEs supports sustainability efforts and acts as a catalyst for whole-system health.

Connected episodes you might be interested in:

• No.250 – Panel conversation on Space Cities about cultural evolution
• No.284 – Panel conversation with Emerging leaders about changing culture in Africa

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