EVENT PROGRAM
Building Delivery Infrastructure for Africa's Creative Economies: working sessions, fireside conversations and breakouts anchored in Botswana.
Thursday 15 October 2026
Opening, the first working session on coordination, and the Digital Economy Track.
Registration & Morning Tea
Opening Plenary — Setting the Stage
Welcome remarks from Africa Creatives Alliance leadership and representatives of the host government. The session states the purpose of ACEL 2026, introduces the infrastructure tracks and explains how the working sessions connect to outputs that continue after the convening.
Opening remarks on the "State of the Creative Economy in Botswana: The 2030 Roadmap," featuring Ministry of Sports & Arts (MoSA) leadership.
Speakers
MCThato Matlhabaphiri (SCAR)
Founder, The Podcast With SCAR
KeynoteRita Ngenzi
Founding Executive Director, Africa Creatives Alliance
KeynoteKabo Phetlu
CEO, Botswana Digital and Innovation Hub
KeynoteMs Gloria Alakanani Baitshepi
Acting Secretary General, Botswana National Commission for UNESCO (NATCOM)
Keynote · participation TBCGaokgakala Daniel Lemmenyane
Chief Executive Officer, National Arts Council of Botswana (NACB)
Opening remarksTebogo Matebesi
Ministry of Sports and Arts
Creative Economy Value Creation & Governance Lab
Part 1 – Framing the Creative Economy Value Creation System in Botswana
A facilitated workshop that helps stakeholders understand the creative economy as a functioning value creation system. Participants identify how economic value is created, developed, protected, financed and brought to market by exploring the key functions required across the ecosystem — from skills development, production and entrepreneurship to intellectual property, innovation, investment, trade, market access and export.
Working in three breakout groups focused on three selected subsectors — 1) Visual arts including crafts, 2) Film/Audiovisual, 3) Performing Arts (Theatre, Dance & Live Performance) — participants will trace their respective value creation processes, making explicit where value is generated, where it is constrained or lost, and the obstacles preventing it from reaching its full economic potential. Each group will identify practical solutions and the functions that need to be strengthened to address these bottlenecks.
The workshop develops a shared understanding of how creative products, services, intellectual assets and experiences generate value and establishes the foundation for the subsequent Relational Stakeholder Framework.
Speakers
Session lead · Visual Arts & CraftsJohanna Kouzmine-Karavaïeff
Director of Research and Creative Economy Systems, Africa Creatives Alliance
FacilitatorTumelo Michael Bogatsu
Creative Strategist, Baagisan Think Tank
FacilitatorNikita Neo Mokgware
Co-founder, Women in Film Guild
FacilitatorTefo Paya
Mightysong
FacilitatorAtang Arnold
Founder, The Spaces Botswana
Lunch
Creative Interlude
A live performance moment
A short performance from Botswana artists, placed between working sessions. The interlude gives local creative practice a visible place inside a policy convening.
Digital Infrastructure for the Creative Economy
Building the digital infrastructure that creative economies need
This track moves beyond platform access to examine where digital systems are missing across the creative value chain. Digital tools for visibility and distribution exist, but structural functions — ecosystem connectivity, business support, IP management, access to finance, data and market intelligence — are far less developed. The focus is on what digital infrastructure Botswana and the region need to create, capture and retain more value locally.
"The Creator Playbook"
How African creatives monetize across music, fashion, gaming, and content. Real case studies, real numbers, live demos. Facilitator + 2 practitioners.
Speakers
Karabo Senna
Sales & Licensing, SAMRO
Platform Power: Who Controls the Digital Value Chain?
Building on platforms, or renting space on them
A discussion on where value settles when African creatives depend on infrastructure they do not own. Grounded in the Wowzi and Muwado models, the conversation covers digital rights, creator payments, and platform dependency — but also asks: what digital infrastructure is missing for sector development, who should build it, and how can digitalization help Botswana's creative sectors retain more value locally while accessing regional and global markets?
Speakers
ModeratorSsanyu Ssematimba
Head of Department – Creative Arts & Events, African Leadership Academy
Gbenga Kayode
Director & Producer, Faaji Productions
Karabo Senna
Sales & Licensing, SAMRO
Mboko Basiami
Founder and Creative Director, Glotto
Day One Closing Remarks
Where the day landed
The MC recaps Day One, followed by reflections from NATCOM, and ushers guests to the experiential session.
ACEL Opening Reception (Day 1 Networking Session)
Light networking in the courtyard at the hub, giving delegates the chance to meet counterparts before the second day of working sessions.
For Queries
Questions about the programme or your role in a session? Reach out to the secretariat.