The inaugural African Film Investor Roundtable (AFIR) brought together leading film investors and financiers in Cape Town, alongside regional producers and international industry experts, in what organisers described as a significant milestone for African cinema.

The meeting held earlier this month was spearheaded by Steven Markovitz, founding CEO of Big World Cinema and Executive Director of the African Producers Accelerator (APA), who co-chaired the roundtable with Wakiuru Njuguna, Managing Partner of Kenya’s HEVA Fund.

“It feels like a historic moment in African cinema with increased global recognition of the growing talent on the continent and increased availability of African finance for African film, the roundtable was a unique opportunity to bring these forces together and the results were beyond expectation,” he was quoted by Deadline as saying.

Speaking to The Callsheet this week, Markovitz said one of the biggest takeaways from the event was a commitment from investors to co-invest in films across borders, with some investors already pledging finance during the roundtable.

“We will announce as soon as it’s signed,” he added.

Markovitz said the event reflected the emergence of a growing number of equity investors across the continent.

“Having this Roundtable was a recognition of a critical mass of African equity investors who want to collaborate with each other. There is a shift towards African capital leading the financing of African stories. A good example of this is Clarissa which was in Cannes this year, distributed by Neon and financed by African equity investors. We are now seeing European producers coming to us to raise money for African films where for many years it was the other way round.”

Asked what investors are looking for when evaluating African film projects today, Markovitz said it was difficult to generalise.

“They are mainly looking for films that have strong potential for commercial success and are owned largely by African producers.”

Njuguna, whose Kenya-based HEVA Fund has mobilised more than $40 million and invested in more than 500 creative businesses across East Africa, was among several leading African film financiers who travelled to Cape Town for the event.

Other key participants included Osahon Akpata, CEO of CANEX Creations Inc., the intellectual property investment company of Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), and Adekunle Adebiyi, Executive Director: Investments at Lagos-based MBO Capital Management Limited. MBO Capital has invested more than $9 million in the African film industry, supporting the production of more than 42 film and television projects across Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda and South Africa.

AFIR grew out of the African Producers Accelerator, established by Big World Cinema in 2025 with the support of the Bertha Foundation to help mid-career African producers strengthen their businesses and prepare investment-ready projects.

During the meeting, six producers from the 2026 APA cohort pitched their projects to investors, joined by five producers from the programme’s 2025 cohort.

All 11 producers had completed APA’s three-month accelerator programme, which focuses on business strategy, financing structures and investor readiness.

The next African Film Investor Roundtable will take place in Lagos in November during CANEX WKND 2026, a four-day networking and business event bringing together creatives, investors and industry leaders from across Africa and the diaspora.

“One of the most encouraging outcomes of the African Film Investor Roundtable was seeing dev finance institutions, private investors, philanthropies and producers share the same table – not simply to finance individual films, but to design a stronger market for African cinema. #AFIR,” George Gachara, founding partner and board chairperson of the HEVA Fund, posted on social media following the event.