Afrobeats icon and entrepreneur D’Banj deepened his role as a business mogul and advocate for African creatives after presenting The C.R.E.A.M. Platform 3.0 at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2026 in Los Angeles, followed by appearances at the Music Business Conference Atlanta, and the Africa Soft Power Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
The two-week run of high-level engagements across three different global stages positioned D’Banj among international investors, executives, and cultural leaders to push agenda for scaling Africa’s creative economy through structured financing and digital infrastructure.
At Milken Institute’s panel titled “Culture is Capital: Investing in Africa’s Booming Creative Economy,” D’Banj joined Aubrey Hruby, Co-Founder and General Partner at Tofino Capital; Nicholas Weinstock, Founder and President of Invention Studios; Shain Shapiro, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Music Ecosystems; and Tunde Balogun, CEO and Co-Founder of LVRN Records.
According to the Milken Institute, the goal of the session was to bring “together leaders from sports, entertainment, publishing, investment, and tourism to explore how Africa’s creative economy is moving from cultural influence to economic scale.” The panel examined growth in African creative exports, capital flows, and how investment is creating jobs, elevating talent, and delivering financial returns.
D’Banj used the platform to present the relaunch of The C.R.E.A.M. Platform 3.0, an acronym for Creative Reality Entertainment Arts and Music. The platform functions as a DIY, one-stop digital ecosystem for African creatives, providing access to recording, video production, distribution, and funding through web platforms and USSD code. It allows talent to submit content directly from home, bypassing traditional label barriers.
The global push follows Afreximbank’s 2025 acquisition of an equity stake in The C.R.E.A.M. Platform through its subsidiary, Canex Inc. The deal provides platform users access to Canex Inc.’s $3 billion creative sector fund. A 2017 KPMG audit previously valued The C.R.E.A.M. Platform at $130 million. Beneficiaries are already accessing financing for projects in renewable energy and electric vehicles.
He disclosed, “I am honoured to continue bringing Nigeria to the world with like-minded people who support the creative economic growth of Africa, with The C.R.E.A.M. Platform at the epicenter of this movement.”
“The feedback has been amazing and I am encouraged that our message of leveraging digital to maximize talents is resonating across divides,” he added.
Through his advocacy, the entertainment business mogul have focused on unlocking new connections between African talents and global investors, reinforcing The C.R.E.A.M. Platform’s role as a bridge for structured financing in Africa’s creative industries.
