The Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) was part of the distinguished assembly of guests that witnessed the host country signing agreement ceremony for the forthcoming events for the 2026 Creative African Nexus ( CANEX) and the 2027 Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) that took place on 9th March 2026 at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in Lagos, Nigeria.
During the ceremony, the Host Country Agreement was formally executed by representatives of Afreximbank, the African Union Commission, African Continental Free Trade Area ( AfCFTA) Secretariat and the Federal Government of Nigeria under the supervision of H. E. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo Chairperson of the IATF 2027 Advisory Council and former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In addition, the Governor of Lagos State of Nigeria, Babajide Sanwo-Olu thanked the IATF Board for selecting Lagos as the host for the twin events and assured them of the state’s readiness for the highly prestigious international Fair.
The CANEX 2026 which is a global African convergence of stakeholders in the creative and cultural industries such as writers, artists, athletes, film makers and policy makers among others, has previously held in Egypt and Algeria.
PAWA has been a regular attendee in the past CANEX events where it participated in activities such as the African Publishers Prize, Creative Writing Workshop and Book Fair among other important Literary and Cultural events.
Above picture showed the PAWA Secretary General, Dr Wale Okediran with the CANEX Project and Programme Director, Ms Edima Otuokon at the event.
