On 23 April 2026, researchers and postgraduate students gathered at Rhodes University’s Continuing Education Centre for the Creative Economies in Africa Colloquium. The Colloquium was hosted as part of the activities of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) – The Guild Cluster of Excellence Cluster of Research Excellence (CoRE) on ‘Creative Economies: Cultures, Innovation and Sustainability’. Rhodes University is a co-lead alongside King’s College London and the University of Lagos. The Colloquium was supported by the DVC of Research and Innovation, Dr Nomakwezi Mzilikazi.
The Colloquium built on the success of the 2025 mini-colloquium (5 papers presented), to become an annual event at Rhodes University. The event has grown substantially from its first edition, including a greater number and wider variety of papers. In 2026, 13 papers were presented from colleagues and students in the Departments of Drama, Economics and the Rhodes Business School, Fine Art, Journalism and Music. Papers were also presented by representatives of the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) and the International Library of African Music (ILAM). Lastly, Professor Leonardo Costa from the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, presented one of two keynote addresses.
The event opened with a keynote address by Professor Leonardo Costa, who reflected on methodological approaches in creative economy and cultural policy research, drawing on the Brazilian experience. His presentation highlighted the importance of mixed-methods approaches capable of capturing both economic structure and cultural meaning. This is an issue of growing importance as researchers seek to develop robust evidence bases for creative economy policy in the Global South. Later in the programme, Professor Richard Haines (Nelson Mandela University and SACO) delivered a keynote on the economics of language, offering historical and analytical insights into how language functions as both a cultural asset and an economic resource.
Colloquium organisers, session chairs and keynote speakers
From left to right: Professor Jen Snowball (RU Economics); Professor Leonardo Costa (UFBA); Professor Richard Haines (NMU and SACO); Dr Fiona Drummond (RU Economics); Dr William Fourie (RU Music); Dr Nkululeko Sibanda (RU Drama)
The aim of the Colloquium is to provide a collegial space for interdisciplinary engagement on the opportunities and constraints shaping creative economies across the African continent. Papers presented at the Colloquium brought together work spanning cultural policy, heritage economies, language economics, informal labour markets, indigenous innovation systems, value-chain development, AI and digital aesthetics. Rather than treating the creative economy as a single sector, the presentations collectively demonstrated its character as a multi-scalar development field linking cultural value, infrastructure, identity and production networks.
Another goal is to encourage networking among those engaged in creative economies research at Rhodes University. New connections were made, with potential for future collaborations in research and a community project on audiobooks for African storytelling.
An important aspect of the programme was the presence of work-in-progress presentations alongside completed papers, reflecting the Colloquium’s intention of being a supportive research-development space for emerging projects and postgraduate scholarship. This format encouraged dialogue across disciplines and career stages, strengthening interdisciplinary and interfaculty networks at Rhodes University.
Participants at the 2026 Creative Economies in Africa Colloquium