It is still too early to gauge how the AfCFTA will affect the sports and entertainment industry, since the agreement is still in its early stages of implementation
This is a historic point for the continent, it is the
beginning of what is hoped will, at the very least, form a workable framework
for a modern African economy. An African economy that will allow free movement
of labor and goods within member States – a drastic change from the current
siloed economic structures, and hopes to foster intra-African trade,
industrialization and self-reliance.
Economic co-dependency or cooperation between sovereign
States is not a new economic strategy. Europe has sought to achieve this at the
regional or supranational level through the establishment of the European
Union. However, the recent decision of the United Kingdom to leave the EU shows
that the goal of integration is not without its challenges.
The United States has functioned for so long as a collage of
economic co-dependent states that few pay much attention to the analogies with
modern supranational regional organizations such as the European Union.
However, on closer inspection, it is clear that the same
rules of a shared currency, open borders and the full economic integration of
the states played a large and important role in the growth, stability and
development of the US. There are similar associations in Asia – the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); and in the Arab region – the Council of
Arab Economic Unity (CAEU).
Africa has also championed regional economic integration,
but never at the level or scale of the AfCFTA and, indeed, not as successfully
as in other world regions. African economic communities like ECOWAS, SADC, EAC
and others, have failed to substantially integrate their disparate national
economies which would have served to protect the region from exploitation by
its neighbors to the east and the west.
With consumer population projections favouring Africa, and a
combined consumer and business spending projection of $6.7 trillion by 2030,
[1] the time is now for Africans to look inwards for solutions to the
continent’s economic woes. The sports, media and entertainment industry is one
space where the continent continues to show promise. African content competes
favourably on the radio and streaming networks on a global scale, spurring key
investments from media giants like Disney and Netflix.
The continent is also a major contributor in the world
sports industry particularly in consumption and talent exportation. The
discussion must now revolve around the question of how the AfCFTA and
intra-African collaboration can be best employed to secure these industries’
futures.
The answer: developing local industrialisation, production
and distribution infrastructures for the consumption of sports, media and
entertainment. This is key to the success of the AfCFTA in these industries.
It will be near impossible to unlock the true value of this
agreement without Africa first fixing its infrastructure deficit and this is
relevant even beyond the sports and entertainment sectors. African countries
must aim to localize its production and distribution processes as much as
possible to control a larger part of the African market.
This move may have been branded as a security move, but it
has also proven to be an economic boon to Chinese competitors in these spaces.
With this agreement, the time is ripe to develop African digital
infrastructures to leverage upon the continent’s population resource in industries
like music and film where there is already an appreciable global presence. It
is indeed the right time to create our own entertainment giants!
In the sports arena, rather than constantly exporting our
best talents, local investment in sports like football, for example, can
provide the required infrastructure to ensure that African athletes can thrive
right here on the continent. This will serve to effectively reduce talent
flight, a major challenge in the industry today. It could eventually place African
leagues at par with the popular European leagues where so many players of
African descent consistently perform excellently.
It is still too early to gauge how the AfCFTA will affect
the sports and entertainment industry, since the agreement is still in its
early stages of implementation. We are also yet to observe how committed member
States are to this intended collaboration.
One thing is for sure though; any initiative that welcomes
the free movement of goods and services within Africa and promotes intra-African
investments and cooperation on intellectual property rights is a huge step in
the right direction for a continent with much to benefit from greater economic
integration