By Mamby Diomandé, Founder and General Commissioner of SIMA, and Lionel Talon, Cultural Entrepreneur, Founder of the WeLovEya Festival and the EYA Community Center (Benin)

African music is gaining unprecedented global traction, powered by vibrant rhythms and bold creativity. Yet much of Francophone Africa remains largely left out of this momentum. Despite abundant talent, fragile economies, scarce funding, and weak distribution systems continue to hold back growth.

The Salon des Industries Musicales d’Afrique Francophone (SIMA), the Francophone African Music Industry Summit, aims to change that. Its second edition will be held in Cotonou, Benin, from November 10-15, 2025. Conceived as a forum for dialogue and cooperation among artists, investors, and policymakers, SIMA seeks to move Francophone African music “from potential to performance”, turning artistic wealth into a sustainable, value-creating industry.

Industry Seeks Sustainable Model

 The numbers highlight the imbalance. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), recorded-music revenues in Sub-Saharan Africa exceeded $110 million in 2024, up 22.6% from the previous year. But nearly three-quarters of that came from Nigeria and South Africa. Francophone markets face structural hurdles: poor infrastructure, limited streaming revenues, and weak access to finance, compounded by a lack of reliable local data.

The digital boom, expected to open new opportunities, has also exposed deep divides. In most Francophone countries, streaming platforms operate mainly on freemium models, and YouTube revenues remain negligible. Mobile operators sometimes provide alternative monetization, but inconsistent intellectual-property management continues to undermine artists and producers. The result is a divided industry , a small, organized minority benefiting from digital income while the majority still struggle to earn.

Digital distributors have become the industry’s key intermediaries, ensuring music can circulate and gain visibility. Understanding their algorithms, mastering platform dynamics, and professionalizing artist–platform relationships are now crucial to turning creativity into economic value.

In this environment, digital distributors have become the industry’s key intermediaries, ensuring music can circulate and gain visibility. Understanding their algorithms, mastering platform dynamics, and professionalizing artist–platform relationships are now crucial to turning creativity into economic value.

Financing Must Become Structural

 Investment remains the biggest challenge. Financial institutions are still wary of cultural industries, often deemed risky and asset-light. Yet some initiatives show a new model is emerging. The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) launched the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) program, allocating $1 billion to support the production, distribution, and export of African creative content. By backing festivals, digital platforms, and independent labels, CANEX illustrates a distinctly African approach to cultural financing that blends public funds, regional institutions, and private investors.

Adapting these mechanisms to Francophone contexts, often less formalized than their Anglophone counterparts , will require national guarantee funds, tax incentives, and microfinance tools for creative entrepreneurs. Governments, regional banks, and private partners must work toward a shared objective: building a network of viable music companies capable of competing across Africa and beyond.

Governments, regional banks, and private partners must work toward a shared objective: building a network of viable music companies capable of competing across Africa and beyond.

Regularizing the income of artists, producers, and session musicians , many of whom rely on sporadic fees , is equally vital. Documented work and formal contracts open access to credit and investment for equipment, promotion, or touring. Only then can music evolve from an informal pursuit into a recognized economic sector.

Benin as a New Paradigm

 Benin, host of SIMA 2025, embodies this shift. Over recent years, culture has become central to its development strategy. Projects such as new museums, exhibitions of repatriated heritage, and programs like the Fund for the Development of Arts and Culture, along with festivals like Vodun Days and WeLovEya , reflect a drive to connect heritage, creativity, and the economy. Through grants, residencies, and the promotion of creative tourism, the government is nurturing a new generation of cultural entrepreneurs. Though still evolving, this policy shows that culture can be treated as a strategic investment, not just a symbolic expense.

The broader goal is to build an integrated regional market linking Abidjan, Dakar, Cotonou, Lomé, Douala, and Libreville, where artists, producers, and distributors collaborate, share standards, and pool distribution tools

The broader goal is to build an integrated regional market linking Abidjan, Dakar, Cotonou, Lomé, Douala, and Libreville, where artists, producers, and distributors collaborate, share standards, and pool distribution tools. Achieving that will require proactive public policies, from supporting local content and digital ticketing to developing performance infrastructure and promoting intellectual-property awareness, and formal recognition of music as a growth-driving industry.

Beyond economics, music is a potent instrument of soft power. It shapes identity and projects influence in ways governments can no longer ignore. In a world where cultural relevance often defines global presence, Francophone Africa cannot afford to play a secondary role.

Investing in music means investing in the symbolic and economic empowerment of a young, creative, and diverse continent. Turning this potential into proof will require coordinated effort, from mechanisms like CANEX and Côte d’Ivoire’s Cultural Industries Fund to Benin’s cultural-investment initiatives. What remains is to forge these experiences into a coherent regional movement, anchored in reliable data, long-term financing, and transparent governance. Francophone Africa has no shortage of voices or talent; what it needs are the tools and structures to let its music industry truly thrive.