Afrexim Bank has announced a $3.8 million film finance development facility to AAA Entertainment to enhance the production of 11 greenlit film projects, in collaboration with production companies from Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
The project will employ the services of cast, crew, and small to medium enterprises of different African nationalities for all productions.
Afreximbank is a pan-African multilateral trade finance institution created in 1993 under the control of the African Development Bank. Its headquarters are located in Cairo, Egypt. Afreximbank has collaborated with the African Development Bank, African Central Banks, and other international financial institutions.
According to Afreximbank, the facility will allow for more intra-African co-production agreements, fostering a more integrated film value chain for the continent.
AAA Entertainment is one of the African sales and distribution companies that export African material to the global market and distributes content within Africa to all linear and non-linear channels as well as theatrical outlets. AAA Entertainment seeks to maximize the synergy between the African market and audiences, as well as the local artists and engineers of African content.
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AAA Entertainment is also a Netflix content partner in Africa and also works with several global aggregators and distributors for the biggest digital content platforms like Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, and many others.
The Film Development Financing Facility is a debt financing solution aimed at supporting the development and production of films produced by African entities.
This financing arrangement is aimed at supporting film development and production for producers with a track record of successful film production where additional sources such as “pre-sales” of film distribution rights or studio financing are available.
The film financing facility will also be available to producers who merely package a project and assign the rights to an aggregator production company.
It is also projected to have an impact across the entire value chain, from capacity development to distribution.
This is expected to uplift the overall quality of African film content and make it more attractive to global audiences also encourages African film producers to develop edutainment content that showcases African culture and heritage.
