For the third consecutive year, the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos is supporting the Africa Creative Market to further strengthen the creative industry’s collaboration between Nigeria and the United States.

Founded by Dr Inya Lawal, an alumna of the Fortune-U.S. Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership programme, the Africa Creative Market brings together stakeholders from the African and international creative industries to exchange ideas and explore innovations to spur the growth of Africa’s creative economy.

This year, two U.S. creative industry leaders, Steffan Horowitz from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Africa Creative TV (ACTV) exchange programme; and Dedren Snead, CEO of Atlanta-based transmedia company SUBSUME Studios –– participated in the weeklong conference with support from the U.S. Consulate General Lagos.

MEANWHILE, the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, has expressed concern over little or no support for creative artists across the country.
, disclosing that his organisations is ready to mobilise support for young creatives to elicit the interests of young people in nation building.

Itodo made this observation in Abuja during The Art4Democracy Exhibition to commemorate the International Day of Democracy, organised by Yiaga Africa with support from the Open Society Foundations, where he urged the government and stakeholders to get citizens active through art.

He said: “Nigeria is one of the countries where creative artists are not supported to produce civically concious art and we hope that we will continue to mobilise support for these young creatives because what they have done via this exhibition is to demonstrate that we can elicit the interests of people, We can hold government to account, and we can get citizens active through art. The one big message is that democracy is here to stay.”

Also speaking, Director General, National Gallery of Art, Ahmed Bashir Sodangi said the body was working towards bridging the gap between artists and the market.

The exhibition took place at the Orisun Art Gallery in Abuja, and had in attendance members of the diplomatic community, civil society practitioners, government representatives and businesspeople.