Africa’s social and political space is contending with various threats including insurgency, economic sabotage, inequality, poverty, failed leadership, food insecurity, internecine conflicts, racial segregation and many other woes. In addition to this, the rising killings of fellow Africans in xenophobic attacks especially in South Africa has left the continent more heated than in the past. This has also negatively impacted continental relations and questions the relevance of Pan Africanism and other indigenous African philosophies such as Ima Edi Obio and Ubuntu. The foundation of African unity appears to be under attack in new spectacles of lynching of “foreigners” right on the African soil. There is a critical need to reassess the very foundations of our existence as peoples of Africa as there is also the urgent need to reappraise and envision new thoughts, perspectives, strategies and methods in promoting Pan Africanism and forging a new African identity especially to emerging generations and demographics of Africans without the benefit of sufficient exposure to the tenets and principles of this ideology. The role of the creative industries including theatre, the performing arts and cinematic media in bringing these issues to the public arena is central to how the dynamics of these issues play out for both local and international observers. Using qualitative methodology involving library study, interviews, observation, the paper will interrogate the function of the creative industries in fostering the understanding of Pan Africanism among Africans and how this can lead to peace and coexistence in Africa as well as limiting the opportunity for various forms of threats within the continent. The paper concludes that the creative industries can be useful tools of reconciliation, peace building and development communication given the opportunity, the right environment and the necessary support.
Keywords: Creative Industries, Pan Africanism, African Identity, Theatre, Cinematic Media
Ofonime Inyang PhD