Japan and Africa are deepening collaboration in the creative economy, with a new animation co-production initiative bringing together Japanese and African studios to develop original animated content.

The Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) announced the partnership as a significant development in its efforts to promote new business opportunities between Japanese and African creative-industry players.

The initiative grew out of the TAIDO African Animation Challenge, a talent-development programme implemented by Arc & Beyond and other partners to support emerging animation creators across Africa.
As part of the programme, two African animation studios selected through JETRO’s Africa Business Desk, Animax FYB Studios of Ghana and CR motion+ of Nigeria, received mentorship from Japanese animation professionals over a six-month period.
The participating studios were required to develop original animated short films between five and 10 minutes in length.
Their completed works were subsequently showcased in Tokyo on March 4, 2026, where they attracted positive reactions from industry experts.
The development has now moved beyond training and showcase into commercial co-production, with Toei Animation announcing plans to invest in and collaborate with Nigeria’s CR motion+ on a new animated short film based on the Nigerian studio’s original work, Trials of the Spear.
The proposed collaboration marks a potentially important step in connecting Nigeria’s growing animation industry with one of Japan’s globally recognised animation companies.
Based in Lagos, CR motion+ was established in 2024 as the content-production arm of Comic Republic, an African entertainment company known for developing original African intellectual properties.
According to JETRO, the studio specialises in animation and visual storytelling built around African-created intellectual properties and has developed international recognition through licensing collaborations with major international studios.
The partnership also highlights the increasing commercial value of African stories and intellectual property within the global creative economy.
JETRO said the new co-production initiative forms part of broader efforts to explore new models of business collaboration between Japan and Africa, leveraging the growing appeal of Japanese popular culture, including animation.
The organisation cited the TAIDO Project, TICAD 9, Super Japan in Lagos and Super Japan in Cairo among initiatives through which it has been exploring opportunities for greater interaction between Japanese and African creative and business communities.
For Nigeria’s creative sector, the collaboration comes against the backdrop of growing interest in locally developed intellectual property, particularly stories rooted in African history, mythology and contemporary culture.
The proposed adaptation of Trials of the Spear by a Japanese animation giant could therefore provide an avenue for an African-created story to reach wider international audiences while giving Nigerian animation professionals access to international production expertise and commercial networks.
JETRO said it would continue to support the creation of new business opportunities between Japanese and African partners through initiatives such as the Africa Soft Power Caravan, “Super Japan,” as well as other programmes designed to foster innovation and commercial collaboration between the two regions.
The organisation described the newly announced co-production as an example of the kind of cross-border collaboration and value creation it seeks to promote.
The development also reinforces the growing importance of the creative economy as an avenue for Japan-Africa engagement, moving bilateral relations beyond conventional areas such as trade and investment to include intellectual property, digital content, animation and cultural industries.
For Nigerian creators, the collaboration offers the prospect of linking locally generated stories and characters with global production capabilities, a model that could potentially expand the international market for African intellectual property.