Africa has never struggled to produce stars. From musicians topping global charts to filmmakers, dancers and fashion designers earning international recognition, the continent’s creative talent has never been in doubt.
But according to Pan-African creative entrepreneur Julius Kyazze, talent alone will never transform Africa into a global creative powerhouse.
The missing ingredient, he argues, is business.
Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey, the Live54+ founder and Swangz Avenue co-founder said Africa’s creative future depends less on discovering the next superstar and more on building the companies, systems and professionals capable of turning raw talent into sustainable careers and thriving industries.
“We do not have a lack of talent. We have a lack of enough people to build the business and the structures behind that talent,” Kyazze said.
It is a challenge he has spent much of his career trying to solve.
After helping build Swangz Avenue into one of East Africa’s most influential entertainment companies, Kyazze has expanded his vision through Live54+, a pan-African creative platform designed to unite businesses across media, live events, talent management, marketing and content creation under one ecosystem.
Rather than operating as isolated companies competing within individual markets, Kyazze believes Africa’s creative businesses should collaborate across borders, creating stronger institutions capable of supporting artists, brands and audiences throughout the continent.
For him, success is no longer measured by producing another hit song or sold-out concert. It is about creating an ecosystem where African creatives can build meaningful careers without constantly looking beyond the continent for opportunity or validation.
“Our ambition is to build an ecosystem where creatives can tour, collaborate and grow across Africa through strong local institutions and partnerships,” he explained.
Kyazze’s perspective is rooted in experience.
Long before becoming one of Uganda’s leading entertainment entrepreneurs, he began his journey as a dancer, an experience he says taught him discipline, teamwork, branding and the commercial value of creativity. Those lessons were later reinforced through exposure to Kenya’s more established entertainment industry, where he witnessed firsthand how creative businesses could be structured for long-term growth rather than short-term success.
Those early experiences reshaped his thinking. He came to see that while artists often occupy the spotlight, lasting creative industries are built by managers, marketers, producers, investors, event organisers, legal experts and countless other professionals working behind the scenes.
That belief now sits at the heart of his vision for Africa’s creative economy.
Kyazze sees enormous potential for the continent to become a global creative force—not simply by exporting talent, but by exporting successful creative businesses that own intellectual property, create jobs and keep more value within African economies.
His ambition stretches far beyond growing his own companies. He hopes to contribute to an African creative ecosystem capable of generating dignified employment for thousands of young people while ensuring African stories are told, owned and monetised by Africans themselves.
