Experts within the artistic trade have referred to as for stronger mental property (IP) safety and elevated funding in African artistic expertise as synthetic intelligence (AI) reshapes the worldwide artistic sector.
They made the decision throughout a panel session titled “Artificial Intelligence and Animation: IP, Authorship, and Ethics” on the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) 2026.
The occasion was held on the sidelines of CANEX 2026 on the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, Lagos.
Emeka Onyia, Director of Digital Business and Innovation at Afreximbank, mentioned African governments wanted insurance policies to arrange their international locations for an economic system more and more pushed by AI.
Onyia mentioned the know-how would have an effect on just about each sector, making it essential for international locations to put money into expertise growth and defend their digital sovereignty.
He famous that office modifications, together with job losses in main organisations, underscored the necessity to reassess the talents taught to younger individuals.
According to him, the main target needs to be on equipping younger Africans with abilities to provide high quality work and compete internationally.
Roye Okupe, Founder of YouNeek Studios, mentioned defending artists and their mental property needs to be a key safeguard in adopting generative AI within the artistic trade.
Okupe, who has a pc science background, expressed concern that artists whose works have been used to coach AI methods weren’t essentially benefiting from the know-how.
He mentioned safeguards have been wanted to guard artistic works and guarantee artists retained the precise to create and profit from their mental property.
Okupe additionally raised issues about AI’s potential results on employment, human creativity and the setting, noting that the know-how was evolving quickly.
He mentioned innovation needs to be measured by how nicely it improved human welfare.
Malik Afegbua, a filmmaker, AI artiste and artistic technologist, mentioned Africa wanted a stronger artistic ecosystem to protect and promote its cultural heritage within the age of AI.
Afegbua mentioned a lot African cultural materials was already out there on-line, making it troublesome to rely solely on efforts to stop its use.
He argued that constructing native artistic infrastructure and supporting African artists would offer a extra sustainable strategy to defend the continent’s cultural id.
He referred to as for stronger distribution methods, elevated assist for native animation and movie productions, and larger funding in African tales.
Afegbua additionally urged audiences to assist rising creatives by buying their works and contributing to crowdfunding initiatives.
He mentioned such assist would assist construct an trade much less depending on exterior funding and distribution.
The panel was facilitated by Muyiwa Kayode, Founder and Festival Director of LIFANIMA.
Other panellists included Samia Chelbi, Head of Innovation at DigiArtLivingLab, Tunisia, and Erem Emeka Nehemiah, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of House of Ajebo. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
Edited by Vivian Ihechu
