Brazil is embarking on an ambitious cultural exchange with Rwanda, introducing its world-famous carnival traditions, music, and African-rooted expressions to the east African country.

The planned initiative holds immense potential for vibrant, cross-continental festivals to boost Rwanda’s tourism, foster international partnerships, and celebrate shared heritage.

This development offers inspiring lessons for Ghana, a nation with rich cultural rhythms and growing tourism ambitions, where a similar infusion of global flair could transform local festivals into major global attractions.

In an op-ed published in The New Times titled “Rwanda: Walking Together – Brazil and Rwanda At the Start of a Shared Journey,” Brazil’s Ambassador to Rwanda, Irene Vida Gala, outlined plans for 2026 that go beyond diplomacy.

The ambassador revealed plans to bring Brazilian music—particularly the exuberant energy of carnival—and its strong African influences to Rwanda, alongside translating Brazilian literature into Kinyarwanda, starting perhaps with a children’s book.

This cultural agenda, she noted, forms the “very essence” of shared identities, especially as Brazil’s art extends far beyond its renowned football legacy.

The exchange is timely, coinciding with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, when Ambassador Gala playfully suggested “some Rwandans also become a little Brazilian.” It builds on deepening bilateral ties, including cooperation in agriculture, environment, education, and culture, following the recent establishment of Brazil’s embassy in Kigali—the only new one opened in Africa under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration.

Brazilian Carnival, often hailed as the world’s greatest popular spectacle, draws millions annually with its samba parades, elaborate costumes, street parties, and rhythmic celebrations rooted in a fusion of European, Indigenous, and profoundly African traditions.

Samba itself traces back to West African rhythms brought by enslaved people, making the proposed sharing a poignant return of cultural elements to the continent.

For Ghana, this Rwanda-Brazil model paints an exciting picture. Ghana already boasts dynamic festivals like PANAFEST, which celebrates Pan-African heritage, and vibrant local carnivals such as the Ankos in the Central Region, influenced by historical transatlantic connections. Imagine infusing these with Brazilian carnival elements—samba-infused highlife beats, colorful parades through Accra or Cape Coast streets, or collaborative events blending Afrobeat, highlife, and samba.

Such initiatives could attract international visitors seeking authentic, multicultural experiences, boost hotel occupancy, create jobs in arts, hospitality, and event management, and position Ghana as a premier cultural tourism destination in West Africa.

Ghana’s tourism sector, with its pristine beaches, historic slave castles, wildlife reserves, and warm hospitality, stands ready for growth. A Brazil-inspired carnival fusion could enhance events like the Chale Wote Street Art Festival or Homowo, drawing crowds similar to Rio’s Sambadrome spectacles but with a distinctly Ghanaian twist.

This would not only generate revenue—potentially mirroring Brazil’s economic windfall from Carnival—but also strengthen people-to-people ties, promote cultural pride, and highlight Africa’s enduring influence on global arts.

As Rwanda prepares to embrace Brazilian rhythms, Ghana could explore partnerships with Brazil or other nations to ignite its own carnival renaissance.The result? A more vibrant, inclusive, and economically thriving cultural landscape that invites the world to experience the heartbeat of Africa in new, exhilarating ways.

By Justin Bergman, The Conversation

We used to have a pretty clear idea of what an autocrat was. History is full of examples: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, along with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping today. The list goes on.

So, where does Donald Trump fit in?

In this six-part podcast series, The Making of an Autocrat, we are asking six experts on authoritarianism and US politics to explain how exactly an autocrat is made – and whether Trump is on his way to becoming one.

Like strongmen around the world, Trump’s first step was to take control of a party, explains Erica Frantz, associate professor of political science at Michigan State University.

Trump began this process long before his victory in the 2024 US presidential election. When he first entered the political stage in 2015, he started to transform the Republican Party into his party, alienating his critics, elevating his loyalists to positions of power and maintaining total control through threats and intimidation.

And once a would-be autocrat dominates a party like this, they have a legitimate vehicle to begin dismantling a democracy. As Frantz explains:

Now, many Republican elites see it as political suicide to stand up to Trump. So, fast forward to 2024, and we have a very personalist Trump party – the party is synonymous with Trump.

Not only does the party have a majority in the legislature, but it is Trump’s vehicle. And our research has shown this is a major red flag for democracy. It’s going to enable Trump to get rid of executive constraints in a variety of domains, which he has, and pursue his strongman agenda.

Listen to the interview with Erica Frantz at The Making of an Autocrat podcast.

This episode was written by Justin Bergman and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski and Ashlynne McGhee. Sound design by Michelle Macklem.

Newsclips in this episode from CNN, The Telegraph, CNN and Nayib Bukele’s YouTube channel.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feedor find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.

Justin Bergman, International Affairs Editor, The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Africa’s creator economy is constrained not by a lack of talent or content, but by a weak and insufficient middle class that lacks the disposable income to pay for digital content, subscriptions, and creative products, forcing creators to seek revenue from diasporas or global markets instead of domestic audiences, writes Layo.

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AFRICA’s creator economy isn’t short on talent, ambition, or cultural influence. Everywhere you look, creativity is spilling over. Lagos is printing trends, Nairobi is birthing digital studios, Accra is shaping global sound, Johannesburg is turning creators into micro-enterprises. The work is there, the hunger is there, the momentum is undeniable.

So why does it still feel like something isn’t clicking?

Why does every creator debate always circle back to the same roadblocks, low brand budgets, inconsistent income, weak platforms, poor IP enforcement, and limited pathways to scale?

Here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud, yet every industry operator knows at gut level.

Africa doesn’t have a creator economy problem, it has a middle-class problem. Until that shifts, everything else is decoration.

The Creator Economy Only Thrives When the Middle Class Can Pay for It

Globally, creator economies explode when people have disposable income.
They subscribe to newsletters, support artists on Patreon, buy digital products, pay for workshops, purchase merch, attend events, and sponsor creators directly.

In the US, over half of adults now pay creators directly through subscriptions or digital purchases. In South Korea and parts of Europe, digital content spending is considered a standard household expense.

But across Africa, that structure barely exists.

Africans love creativity, but love doesn’t pay creators. Consumption power does.

And consumption power doesn’t grow without a strong, confident middle class.

Africa’s Middle Class Isn’t Growing Fast Enough

Across the continent, the middle class is thinner than statistics imply. The African Development Bank once projected around 350 million Africans in the “middle class,” but a large portion of that group earns between $2 and $5 a day, which isn’t sustainable. Many of the people counted as “middle class” sit one emergency away from poverty.

Inflation keeps stripping purchasing power. In some African markets, food inflation has stayed above 20 percent. Currency depreciation continues to weaken earnings. Youth unemployment makes upward mobility painfully slow.

And in Nigeria specifically, nearly half of citizens earn less than N50,000 a month, which is roughly $31.25. That amount can’t feed a family of two for a week, let alone support discretionary spending on courses, ebooks, subscriptions, or paid communities.

So when a creator offers a paid class or launches a digital product or subscription, the audience is interested, but the spending appetite doesn’t match the enthusiasm.

Creators aren’t failing.
The economic ladder is.

Brand Budgets Are Not the Problem, They’re a Symptom

When agencies reduce influencer spend, when brands prefer micro-creators, when campaign cycles shrink, everyone blames the brands.

But brands reflect the same structural issue. If their target customers have limited disposable income, budgets follow that reality.

Across many African markets, household consumption per capita has either stagnated or declined in real terms. When people can’t buy, brands can’t justify big marketing budgets.

So creators fight over the few high-value deals available, and the market feels overcrowded even though the continent has one of the world’s youngest populations.

Brands aren’t being stingy.
They’re being realistic in an economy where the average customer is struggling to stay afloat.

The Real Creator Economy Crisis Is Domestic Demand

Creators who make the most money in Africa usually do one of three things:

Sell to diaspora
Sell to global markets
Sell services to businesses instead of fans

Why?
Because domestic monetization is a dead end when the middle class is small and stretched thin.

This isn’t just an influencer issue. It affects filmmakers, designers, writers, musicians, storytellers, podcasters, SaaS builders, and digital educators.

You can build audience in Africa.
You can build influence.
But revenue?
That often has to come from elsewhere.

Not because Africans don’t value creativity, but because too many can’t afford to pay for it.

A Strong Middle Class Changes Everything

If Africa had a larger, financially confident middle class, you wouldn’t need huge brand deals to survive. You’d have:

• Paid newsletters that scale
• A thriving digital product ecosystem
• Large event industries
• High consumption creative communities
• Independent creators hiring teams
• Bigger domestic ad markets
• More profitable platforms
• Stronger licensing revenue
• A market for niche creative experiences
• Sustainable creative employment

The future of Africa’s creator economy will be determined not by how many creators emerge, but by how many consumers grow into stable spenders.

The Creator Economy Needs Economic Reform to Grow
If you ask policymakers how to support the creative sector, they list:

• training
• hubs
• funding
• regulations
• IP reform
• market access

All important.
None sufficient.

You can’t legislate creativity into a thriving economy if the population can’t afford to consume.

The conversation must widen. The creative sector needs to advocate for:

• inflation control
• youth employment
• SME growth
• digital infrastructure
• stable currency environments
• consumer credit systems
• stronger tax incentives for creative businesses

The future of creators depends on the economic health of their audience.

The Deeper Truth: Africa’s Creative Promise Is Outpacing Its Consumer Base

The continent is culturally rich and economically stretched.
Fast moving and slow growing.
Overflowing with talent and underpowered in consumption.

That gap is the real challenge.

Creators aren’t the problem.
Platforms aren’t the problem.
Brands aren’t the problem.

The market is the problem.

And until Africa builds a middle class big enough and confident enough to support the creative industries, creators will continue to rely on foreign revenue, diaspora markets, and brand deals that fluctuate with economic cycles.

So What Does This Mean for the Future?

Africa is not short on brilliance.
But brilliance without buyers is charity.
And creators don’t want charity, they want sustainability.

The continent’s creative superpower is undeniable.
Its cultural footprint is spreading fast.
But if Africa wants a robust creator economy, it must do more than celebrate talent, it must grow the consumers who can pay for it.

The creator economy is not broken.
It’s just sitting on top of a fragile economic pyramid.

Fix the base, and the entire structure rises.

And when it rises, the world won’t just enjoy African creativity, it will invest in it, buy from it, and rely on it.

That’s the future worth building.

The author, Layo, describes herself as “a curious mind exploring the crossroads of creativity and insight.”