24/07/2026
Njangi for Creatives: Building the System
As I sit in the hall at Culture Ngwa Ngwa and look at the room full of artists old and young: singers, poets, filmmakers, theatre makers, cultural entrepreneurs, lecturers, and more.
It hits me again: here is a chance to build something that does not rely on one person’s agency. But on a collective that will outlive all of us gathered here.
For too long, individual endeavour has met setbacks. The individual does not have the power to withstand the shock of a system not built for it.
First, we must diagnose the problem. I have spent years being challenged by this reality.
How do we not just create art, but create with clear marketing roadmaps?
How do we elevate our arts to world class?
Why, for so many decades, are we facing the same perennial issues?
This is what Njangi for Creatives will work to answer. In months we have built trust. But this trust must translate into a strong system — one that can enjoy reforms, yet grow stronger and better.
If this concept only helps us fix today’s daily bread, then we will spend the next generation blaming the last one.
But if we are able to build a system that can last 100 years, it will not only guarantee our own growth. It will give our forebears a roadmap.
Building by Design, Not by Chance Njangi for Creatives is building. It is growing, not by chance, but by design. By creating systems.
This is bigger than the individual artist!
Each endeavor that emanates from one individual trying to be the savior meets hurdles. But a people-centered approach follows the logic of our ancestors: Let the wealth be a commonwealth. It must proceed from the collective to the individual, not from the individual to the collective.
It is what will guarantee that the arts and culture of the Grassfields are still here, still thriving, 100 years from now.
Moving from the informal to the formal sector demands systems. Slowly, but surely, we are building them. It is these systems that will allow us to invest in the great art emanating from the Grassfields — with accountability. Every last Saturday of the month, we meet in Bamenda. It is a time of interaction. It is a time of community. And it is a time of building our financial system together.
Njangi for Creatives in Bamenda is our answer to one question: How do we fund our arts and culture?
It borrows from the first principle. It starts by diagnosing the real issue.
One of the main problems is finance. And not just finance the lack of clear, accountable investment in the sector.
Right now, 99% of arts and culture work in Bamenda has no feedback loop on how money is deployed. We raise it ,albeit mostly with no clear idea on return on investment ,we spend it, and that’s it. No tracking. No learning. No growth.
That is one of the main reasons we remain in the informal sector.
But that can change.One Block at a Time Just as Jay-Z built with Roc Nation and invested through Marcy Venture Partners, and Nas built with QueensBridge Venture Partners, one day we will do that here in Bamenda.
But, it starts with a step. Despite the doubts and the challenges, some will drop, some will join , neither way, we will build one block at a time, with the willing.
I was recently invited to be part of the UK Government in Cameroon as part of PROMOTE BUSINESS WEEK. For the first time, CCI was on the table — not as a side topic, but as a veritable part of the business conversation.
This is why we must position Bamenda. More so, make sure it stays in Bamenda. As we know, there is that anecdotal saying: Bamenda is always the birth place, but it always moves out.
But this time, let it stay here and blossom here! In that light, we will build diligently the processes and procedures, relying on us.
Our solution at this time must be collective. If the first principle shows that we have tried individually for decades, then we must try collective for at least a decade too.
This Arts Fund will grow.
Bamenda will breathe on the international stage.
And this fund will be part of that story.
Akumbu L. Jones Bubuh
Director LALIG
