Kenya has signed a partnership with The Akuna Group, chaired by British actor Sir Idris Elba, to open up skills, funding and international markets for young people in the country's creative industries.

The Statement of Intent was signed on Tuesday 3 November 2026 on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda. Kenya's Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Korir Sing'Oei, signed on behalf of Kenya, alongside Sierra Leone's Chief Minister, Dr David Moinina Sengeh, and Sir Idris Elba for The Akuna Group. Kenya and Sierra Leone are the founding champions of the Commonwealth Creative Economy Partnership, a voluntary, country-led initiative that also involves Ghana and Barbados.

The agreement was confirmed in a statement from The Akuna Group published on Tuesday 10 November, and reported the same day by Capital FM in Nairobi.

What the partnership will do

The partnership aims to connect African creative professionals and enterprises with investors, technology providers and markets across the Commonwealth and beyond. Its focus areas include artificial intelligence, digital innovation, skills development, access to international markets and financing for content creators.

Speaking at the engagement in Antigua and Barbuda, Elba said the work was about connecting talent with opportunity while making sure creators benefit financially from what they make. "And that's really what we're trying to do through Akuna. Bring people together, build those connections, and help turn creativity into opportunity, so more people can make a living from their talent and own what they create," he said.

The partnership is expected to complement Kenya's Talanta Hela programme, the government's flagship initiative for identifying and developing young talent, by giving young people in film, music, fashion and other creative industries more ways to commercialise their work and reach audiences beyond Kenya.

Filmmaking training with Google

One of the first initiatives linked to the partnership is From Script to Screen with AI, a filmmaking training programme developed by Akuna and Google in collaboration with Curious Refuge and supported by a US$1 million grant from Google.org. The programme will target emerging filmmakers in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Africa, teaching film production and the use of artificial intelligence in creative work.

The collaboration also seeks to address the financial barriers facing creatives working across borders. In Ghana, Akuna Wallet Ltd was admitted to the Bank of Ghana's one-year regulatory sandbox in January 2026, providing a supervised environment to test financial services relevant to cross-border earnings.

President William Ruto has invited Elba to visit Kenya for the Internet Governance Forum, where key initiatives under the partnership are expected to be launched.

Why it matters for young Kenyans

Creative industries are increasingly seen in Kenya as an alternative source of employment and income for young people, but the sector is held back by limited financing, inadequate production infrastructure and restricted access to international distribution channels. The new partnership does not yet carry published funding amounts, beneficiary numbers or implementation timelines, and the agreements are voluntary, with participating governments expected to set their own priorities under national policies and regulations.

For now, its value lies in the framework it creates: a formal route for Kenyan creatives to reach investors, training and buyers in Commonwealth markets, and a high-profile partner in Elba, whose Akuna Group describes itself as a pan-African organisation building the infrastructure for Africa's creative economy.