Cape Town, South Africa – 4 September 2025 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in South Africa, in partnership with the Western Cape Government, the City of Atlanta, and other key collaborators, successfully hosted the timbuktoo Creatives Hub Showcase at the Homecoming Centre in District Six yesterday.
The event brought together visionaries, policymakers, investors, and creative entrepreneurs to highlight Africa’s creative economy as a transformative driver of jobs, innovation, and global competitiveness.
The timbuktoo initiative, UNDP’s groundbreaking pan-African innovation platform, aims to mobilise US$1 billion in catalytic and commercial capital over the next decade to empower 10,000 youth-led startups, scale 1,000 high-impact enterprises, and improve 100 million livelihoods—ultimately contributing to sustainable economic growth across sectors such as FinTech, HealthTech, ClimateTech, and now the creative sector.
The creative industry across Africa has emerged as a powerful driver of economic growth, cultural expression, and social cohesion. Contributing approximately $4.2 billion to the continent’s GDP annually, the sector encompasses film, music, fashion, literature, and digital arts. However, Africa’s creative economy remains underfunded, with less than 1% of global creative economy investments directed to the continent, highlighting both its potential and the need for further support.
The showcase featured vibrant exhibitions, live performances, and presentations from Africa’s emerging creative enterprises across design, music, multimedia, cultural heritage, and digital innovation. Creative entrepreneurs from across the country and throughout Africa have demonstrated how creativity, when supported with infrastructure, finance, and networks, has the potential to grow into investable, job-creating enterprises.
Based in Cape Town’s vibrant innovation and creative ecosystem, the timbuktoo Creatives Hub provides young creators with mentorship, market access, and investment pathways – positioning African talent to compete and thrive globally. Since its establishment, the Hub has supported two cohorts of entrepreneurs, engaging 46 creative innovators from 20 African countries within just eight months.
The first cohort focused on business growth and investment readiness, featuring 16 enterprises – 10 of them women-led and 11 youth-led under 35 – selected from over 280 applications across the continent. The second cohort piloted an ideation programme for early-stage creatives, bringing together 30 participants from 9 countries, with strong representation from women and cross-border collaborations.
The showcase also marked a milestone with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announcing UNDP’s pursuit of the timbuktoo–City of Atlanta partnership, a transcontinental effort designed to mobilise diaspora investment and open new market pathways for Africa’s creative industries. This collaboration will see the Hub pioneer efforts to mobilise diaspora investment through a CreativeTech Fund with the City of Atlanta. Together, these ambitions underscore the hub’s readiness to convene, catalyse, and co-invest in Africa’s creative economy.
Through collaborations with institutions such as UVU Africa, the Craft and Design Institute, Snake Nation, and the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism, the hub is building an inclusive and commercially viable ecosystem. This approach bridges traditional and non-traditional actors, from venture capital firms and policymakers to creative collectives and global technology partners.
Quotes
Gloria Kiondo, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP South Africa: “Africa’s creative economy is more than cultural expression – it is a serious driver of jobs, exports, and economic growth. Through the timbuktoo Creatives Hub, we are showing that Africa’s talent is not only ready, but also globally competitive. This showcase reflects the power of young people when given the right infrastructure, networks, and pathways to turn ideas into investment-ready enterprises. We are proud to stand alongside our partners in enabling this ecosystem, because the future of Africa’s development lies in the creativity and innovation of its youth.”
Mr Alan Winde, Premier of the Western Cape: “Africa is blessed with some of the most amazing places in the world. But the real magic is layered on top: the people, the sounds, the flavours, the culture. That is who we are. That is our story. AI will never capture this. People, cultures, the arts—this is how we tell our stories. This is how we express ourselves. That is why this partnership, this launchpad for modern businesses into the experiential economy, is so important. It is our time to celebrate, to grow, to support, and to launch into the future.”
The Honourable Andre Dickens, Mayor of Atlanta: “Atlanta is a group project. It’s my way of reminding everyone in the city that we all have to do this together. Some people will pave the road, some will make sure we’re safe, others will fuel creativity and opportunity, and some will guide our youth. And so, becoming timbuktoo’s first corridor node in the United States means connecting our world-class music industry with Africa’s emerging music tech startups and all of the innovation happening here. This partnership also means our thriving film production ecosystem can collaborate with African filmmakers and digital media creators. This is not competition; this is coopetition.”
About timbuktoo
timbuktoo is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) bold pan-African innovation initiative, designed to redefine Africa’s development trajectory through entrepreneurship.
Its approach is anchored in building a connected network of university-based innovation pods (uniPods) and sector-specific hubs across the continent, each focusing on industries with the highest potential for transformation—such as fintech, climate tech, health tech, and the creative economy.
By pairing world-class talent support with blended financing and policy advocacy, timbuktoo seeks to catalyse Africa’s largest innovation and entrepreneurship movement, creating millions of jobs and positioning the continent as a global driver of solutions rather than a passive consumer.
The timbuktoo Creative Hub in Cape Town is part of this wider vision. Anchored in the historic Homecoming Centre in District Six, the hub positions Cape Town as a continental catalyst for Africa’s creative economy.
More than a physical space, it is an ecosystem enabler that provides incubation, acceleration, mentorship, and global market access for creative entrepreneurs.
It operates through strong partnerships with the Western Cape Government, the Craft and Design Institute (CDI), UVU Africa, and Snake Nation, each contributing distinct expertise ranging from digital adoption and early-stage incubation to growth-stage acceleration and digital monetisation.
Through its early programmes, the Hub has already:
Supported 17 growth-stage entrepreneurs selected from over 280 applications across 20 countries (via CDI’s Creatives Lab).
Nurtured 30 early-stage entrepreneurs from nine African countries, of whom 63% are women and 80% youth (via UVU Africa’s Ideation Programme).
Piloted innovative models for digital monetisation and diaspora engagement through Snake Nation’s Web3 platform.
By addressing systemic barriers such as limited access to finance, fragmented ecosystems, and the digital divide, the Hub is advancing youth employment, women’s empowerment, cultural preservation, and Africa’s participation in the global creative economy—directly contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Image: Mr Alan Winde, premier of the Western Cape and the Honorable Andre Dickens, Mayor of Atlanta at the timbuktoo Creatives Hub Showcase.
