The National Film Authority (NFA) has launched the maiden edition of the Africa Meta Cinema Forum, scheduled to take place in Ghana between the 21st to the 23rd of November 2022.
The forum is a gathering of global cinema investors, film distributors, cinema developers, key policymakers in the film ecosystem on the African continent to explore opportunities in cinema infrastructure development on the African continent.
The event, to be held in partnership with UAE-based Great Minds Group, is aimed at creating the opportunity to attract foreign direct investments and also stimulate local investments for cinema infrastructure development on the African continent.
The intervention is a dedicated effort towards exploring prospects to increase the number of cinema infrastructure, ensuring a vibrant distribution network, creating jobs for the sector and impacting the African economy through arts and tourism.
#HappeningNow Africa Meta Cinema Forum in Accra #GhanaWeekend pic.twitter.com/Yz5Gv12Kg5
— Ghana Weekend (@GhanaWeekend) August 15, 2022
Africa is the most underserved cinema market globally, with one screen to every 787,402 people. The highest is China with 75,581 screens (1 screen to 215,900 people) followed by the United States with 44,111 screens (1 screen to 7503) etc according to the 2021 UNESCO report on ‘Africa Film Industry challenges and trends’.
The lack of screens on the continent is a gap African countries are actively working to bridge to meet the market potential of $20 billion in revenue to the continent and $20 million jobs from the present 5 billion and 5 million respectively.
The event is uniquely positioned to showcase the huge cinema gap, which remains an opportunity for cinema investors globally, especially as various countries explore a comeback strategy after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The forum is the African version of Meta Cinema Forum, Dubai, UAE, the largest cinema convention, covering the Middle East, Central Asia, and African markets.
Now in its 5th edition, META Cinema Forum organized by Great Mind Events Management has grown over the years to include more regions, more projects, more partners and has become the single most important regional gathering for the cinema sector.
Veteran film producer, Kwaw Ansah, arrives at the #MetaCinemaAfrica forum in Accra pic.twitter.com/3w6nNDwodx
— Ghana Weekend (@GhanaWeekend) August 15, 2022
According to Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner Great Mind Events Management “META Cinema Forum in Dubai was launched with the vision to support the growth and development of emerging and rapidly developing markets, highlighting the potential, needs and wants of each market and territory it serves. For some markets, the event has introduced suppliers and buyers together helping to bridge the mismatch between demand and supply, leading to long-term partnerships and millions of dollars in contracts. For others, the event has served as an eye-opener to market potential, appetite, and entry points to these markets.”
“Our events are unique and exceptional as we literally have served as the first point of contact for many key players, which has yielded direct, measurable results from new mega project agreements to F&B purchase agreements to film distribution agreements.
In October 2021, NFA joined the event for the first time and presented the opportunities in Ghana and Africa for the first time to an audience in Dubai, and the response was spectacular.
Many regional and global players were not aware of the goldmine Africa presented in terms of Cinema, and after the presentation from NFA, we were flooded with requests to host everyone in Africa, so they could come and see it for the first time with their own eyes what this untapped market can offer to the world of cinema.”
