EU Backs €8 Million Sub-Saharan Arts Program Eyeing Cultural Pact, Creative Ties

In a bid to strengthen ties between Africa and Europe through cultural collaboration, the Goethe-Institut in Addis Ababa on Friday hosted the launch of Connect & Create, an €8 million initiative aimed at supporting artists, institutions, and creative industries across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The program is part of a larger €30 million investment under the Africa-Europe Partnerships for Culture, funded through the European Union’s NDICI–Global Europe framework. Over a 42-month period, the initiative aims to enhance mobility, co-creation, professional development, and infrastructure across the region’s cultural sector.

Launched amid growing international interest in Africa’s creative economy, which , contributes over $4 billion annually in revenue and supports more than 8.8 million jobs across the continent. The program looks to contribute to creating cultural linkages by unlocking artistic potential which is currently inhibited by a nexus of economic and development barriers. African cultural industries remain structurally constrained by limited access to markets, under-resourced infrastructure, and inconsistent mobility opportunities. The initiative's stated objective is to address these structural limitations through targeted support in mobility, artistic co-production, professional development, and creative space development. 

“Connect & Create” will begin call for applications in July and continue through October 2025. The program will focus on four key areas: mobility, visual arts, performing arts, and capacity building. Around 200 mobility grants will be awarded, with provisions for applicants with disabilities, family travel needs, and environmentally sustainable transport.

In the visual arts, 20 co-creation grants of €20,000 each will be distributed, alongside funding for research and artistic discourse. Performing arts programming, including co-production and regional touring, is scheduled to launch later in 2025. Additional institutional support ranging from €10,000 to €40,000 will be available for cultural organizations, with an emphasis on professional development and community-building.

Applicants from 49 Sub-Saharan African nations and all 27 EU Member States will be eligible. At least half of all recipients will be women. Proposals will be assessed by an independent jury, and training workshops will be held to increase accessibility. According to the program’s coordinators, the selection criteria will prioritize tangible outcomes, sustained networks, shared creation, and systemic change rather than symbolic or purely representational metrics.

Speaking at the launch, Christoph Petzer, Head of Peace, Security, and Culture at the EU Delegation to the African Union, framed the initiative within a wider shift in cultural diplomacy.

 “With over 60% of Africa’s population under the age of 25, cultural cooperation that centers young artists, professionals, and audiences is not just necessary it’s obvious,” he said. “While today's announcement focuses on Connect & Create, it’s only one of several initiatives the EU is undertaking to deepen Africa-Europe cultural partnerships.”

Christoph noted that the Sub-Saharan component is part of a wider global push. In South Africa, for instance, the EU is backing a heritage-based sustainable tourism project in partnership with UNESCO. Meanwhile, the African European Spaces of Culture program, coordinated by EUNIC, continues to facilitate cross-continental artistic collaboration.

These initiatives, he added, reflect the EU’s “Team Europe” approach, which pools resources from Member States and EU institutions. That approach is now evolving into a “Team Africa-Europe” framework, according to Christoph, which will be formally launched later this year under the auspices of the African Union in Addis Ababa, following the commitments outlined in the 2023 Accra Declaration.

Philinab Wiittke, the Goethe-Institut’s regional lead for EU projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, emphasized that Connect & Create was developed through extensive consultation with African cultural practitioners.

“We asked: Who speaks? Who listens? How do we unlearn old narratives and co-create systems that don’t replicate colonial dynamics?” Philinab said. She described a process that included design workshops and co-writing sessions with artists, cultural managers, and entrepreneurs from across the continent.

“Access to funding, quality infrastructure, recognition, and professionalization remain major gaps in Africa’s cultural industries,” she noted. “This program exists to meet those gaps but not on our terms. On shared terms.”

The Sub-Saharan component complements regional tracks already underway in Southern and West Africa. In the south, the focus is on heritage and narrative development, particularly in countries like South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. In West Africa, programming emphasizes festival development and internationalization across 15 ECOWAS member states.