SIMA 2026 to push African music from global influence to economic power

Nairobi, Kenya - The Francophone African Music Industries Fair (SIMA) is set to return to Cotonou in November, with organizers urging Africa's music industry to convert its rising global visibility into economic benefits. The third edition of SIMA, scheduled for November 12–13, will focus on the theme "African Music: From the Stage to Global Influence," aiming to explore how African creators and businesses can harness the continent's growing international demand for music to create jobs, investments, and export earnings.

SIMA co-founder Mamby Diomandé emphasized that the challenge now is to transform musical influence into sustainable economic power. The fair will bring together artists, producers, investors, policymakers, and international industry players to improve the competitiveness and internationalization of African creative businesses, link music with sectors like fashion, film, tourism, and sport, and strengthen public policy, intellectual property, and regulatory frameworks.

The cross-sector approach aims to create additional revenue streams for artists and businesses while positioning music within a broader creative economy. Technology, particularly artificial intelligence and new content creation, distribution, and consumption models, will also be examined. The event follows the previous edition, which drew over 6,700 participants and 3,000 industry professionals.

Benin, the host of SIMA 2026, seeks to boost its cultural and creative industries' economic contribution and cultural influence. The 2026 programme will kick off with SIMA Lab. Music, an artistic residency from November 7–11, featuring artists and beatmakers from across Africa producing a collaborative EP, potentially distributed by an international major label.

The professional program on November 12–13 will include discussions on AI, copyright, mobility, financing, and emerging markets, alongside sessions exploring the connections between music and football. The Makaya showcase will highlight emerging artists from Togo, Kenya, Madagascar, and other African countries, providing new talent access to industry professionals and international audiences.

The fair will also award the Hamed Bakayoko Award to a patron for contributions to Africa's cultural and creative industries. The program concludes with a tourism circuit on November 14, taking participants to cultural and heritage sites across Benin, organized with the Benin Tourism Ministry. Supported by Benin's Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage, the Ministry of Tourism and Foreign Trade, the French Embassy in Côte d'Ivoire, the BOAD Foundation, SACEM, Sony Music, and Warner Music Africa, SIMA's objectives are to build connections between creators, investors, institutions, and markets, ensuring the international visibility of African talents translates into measurable economic benefits for the continent.