Benin’s SIMA 2025: Financing Francophone Africa’s Music

his November, Benin will host the SIMA 2025 Francophone Africa Music Industries Fair under the banner “From Potential to Proof: Showcasing and Financing Francophone Africa’s Music.” Unlike most festivals, SIMA is designed as a marketplace where art meets finance.

Investors, labels, distributors, and artists from across Africa and beyond will converge in Cotonou to strike deals. Central to the agenda: new financing models for artists, international distribution channels, and the creation of industry infrastructure that turns cultural influence into economic output.

Francophone Africa has long been a powerhouse of talent — from Angélique Kidjo to Burna Boy collaborators — but historically lacked the financial structures to scale globally. SIMA seeks to change that by linking creative potential with capital, enabling music to operate not just as an art form but as a driver of exports, tourism, and job creation.

For young entrepreneurs, SIMA is a blueprint: by aligning creativity with commerce, African culture can capture its fair share of global value chains. In other words, private investment in music can yield public good — empowering artists, creating jobs, and elevating Africa’s global presence.