Africa’s Orange Economy: Building Legacy through Knowledge, Law and Licensing
Diana Kinyanjui 
The Orange Economy—encompassing the cultural and creative industries—represents one of Africa’s most powerful yet underleveraged assets. With the African entertainment and media industry projected to reach $112.9 billion by 2027, according to a study by PwC, the time to invest in the development and protection of our creative talent is now. But capital is not enough. What’s equally critical is building the systems that will allow African creatives to thrive, retain ownership, and pass on legacy.
At the heart of this lies talent education—not merely in craft but in management. Artists, content creators, musicians and designers need more than followers and applause. They need to understand contracts, intellectual property rights, brand deals, and the mechanics of licensing. Without this, talent becomes a tool for others’ profit, not a platform for their own growth.
Tumelo Moema, CEO of HAYANI AFRICA, captures this reality succinctly: “There are still a lack of knowledge in the industry, we need to share that information to empower talent and they may know how far their skills and talent can go.”Indeed, too many creatives across the continent remain locked out of decision-making in their own careers, signing away rights unknowingly or working without legal recourse.
This is where law assistance must be seen not as a luxury but a necessity. Artists must have access to legal professionals who can demystify the fine print—who can explain the difference between a fair royalty and a predatory clause. And beyond prevention, legal support is vital in enforcing rights, especially in the digital age where content moves fast and ownership is constantly under threat.
Equally crucial is empowering African talent through licensing. Licensing transforms work into recurring revenue, and more importantly, it keeps power in the hands of the creator. When properly managed, licensing can help talent scale without overextension—allowing them to monetise across territories, platforms and partnerships without losing creative control.
The creative economy is, as Moema puts it, “the industry of Human Economics. It is so much more than responding to emails and invoicing clients. This is legacy building.” And legacy requires infrastructure—systems that don’t just discover talent but develop it, protect it, and sustain it.
Africa’s creatives are its storytellers, innovators and economic drivers. But for the Orange Economy to truly flourish, we must move beyond admiration to advocacy. Only then can we build an industry where brilliance isn’t just discovered—but owned.
SALM TEAM 
