Afreximbank’s investment arm, CANEX Creations, has signed an equity investment in CREAM, the creator platform founded by Afrobeats star D’banj, according to statements from CANEX and CREAM reported this week. Neither side has disclosed the size of the stake or the amount invested.

CANEX Creations was established by Afreximbank to invest in, develop and commercialise African intellectual property, according to BusinessDay. Reports say the agreement was signed on 6 November 2026 at CANEX WKND 2026, the creative-economy gathering held in Lagos. Afreximbank’s own press release on that event, published the same day, does not mention CREAM, and we found no separate Afreximbank release on the deal.

The deal has an earlier history. In June 2025, Vanguard reported that CANEX had “acquired equity” in D’banj’s platform, with the deal formalised at a ceremony on the sidelines of the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja. Afreximbank’s own release, which carries a 25 July 2025 dateline, described a narrower step: CANEX “has signed a term sheet for an equity investment” in C.R.E.A.M., and said that “the prospective transaction is subject to the satisfactory completion of due diligence and final board approval.”

BusinessDay and Premium Times say in 2026 that CANEX has taken or acquired an equity stake, and TheCable describes an equity investment. The reports we read cite no closing document, share count or completion date.

An Afrobeats Wire analysis published on 31 October argued that no primary source had confirmed a closing after the 2025 term sheet. It predates the November statements below.

The November statements are narrower than the headlines. A CANEX Creations LinkedIn post, which we could date only approximately to 9 November, calls CREAM “our investment” and refers to “two significant transactions signed during” CANEX WKND. Punch reported that the investment agreement was signed on 6 November. It also quoted D’banj from a statement issued on Friday, 13 November, by CREAM’s vice-president for music and distribution, Matthew Ohio. We did not retrieve that statement itself. None of these items gives the stake, the price or a closing date.

Osahon Akpata, chief executive of CANEX Creations, said: “CREAM has demonstrated early traction in talent discovery and content monetization.” D’banj, in the same reports, said that “content is the new crude.”

CREAM’s figures are company-reported and we have not verified them. The platform says it launched in 2016 with MTN Nigeria and the Bank of Industry, has more than seven million subscribers, and has monetised more than 3,000 pieces of music, comedy, dance and art. It says it has provided grants, studio sessions and showcases to 16,668 creatives. A July 2025 Afreximbank release cited a larger figure of 38,000 creatives directly supported. The two may use different measures, and we have not reconciled them.

BusinessDay said the deal reflects a shift in Afreximbank’s creative-sector support from debt and grants toward equity. Afreximbank says it has committed US$2 billion through 2027 to Africa’s creative and cultural industries.

Still unknown: the stake size, the amount invested, the valuation, whether the due diligence and board approval named in 2025 were completed, and whether the 2026 agreement matches the 2025 term sheet. We have not found an Afreximbank statement on the CREAM deal. We also found no filing by CREAM or its owner, D’Kings Men Media Ltd, that we could verify.

Sources

TopicsCREAM Afreximbank CANEX Creations D'banj Nigeria

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