Southern African arts organisations launch regional incubator network

The initiative brings together three established creative platforms to provide a structured framework for training, mentorship, business incubation, and cross-border collaboration for emerging and established artists.

House On Fire, known for producing the MTN Bushfire festival and the Standard Bank Luju Food & Lifestyle event, will contribute its experience in large-scale cultural programming. The X-Hub, Mozambique’s first creative business incubator and organiser of the Azgo Festival, will extend opportunities for Portuguese-speaking creatives. AltBlk Continua, founded by multi-award-winning artist Msaki, provides support to independent musicians and cultural practitioners, covering pre-production, release strategies, and post-production, while maintaining ethical standards and safeguarding artist ownership.

The Arts Incubator Corridor aims to link Southern Africa’s creative ecosystems, fostering skills development, entrepreneurship, cultural exchange, and regional collaboration. Its programmes will offer certified creative and entrepreneurship training, mentorship, artist mobility through exchange residencies, touring, and co-creation labs, as well as market access via joint fundraising, international partnerships, and cross-border showcase opportunities.

“The Arts Incubator Corridor is about moving beyond isolated interventions towards a deliberate, structured framework for collaboration,” House On Fire Director Jiggs Thorne said. “By formalising how we work together, we can support a sustained programme that creates meaningful linkages between creative ecosystems, improves access to markets, and allows us to share best practice.”

The X-Hub founding director Paulo Chibanga said: “By connecting incubation, skills development and market access beyond borders, we are creating real pathways for creatives to professionalise, collaborate and compete globally.”

AltBlk Continua founder Msaki said: “Through intentional collaboration between Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa, we aim to build a connected ecosystem that meaningfully supports artists, fostering exchange, opportunity, and long-term creative development across the region. Artists can move, connect, and be received with intention and care.”

The AIC Steering Committee will oversee annual programmes, partnerships, and project reporting. The network’s initial phase will focus on expanding its footprint, mobilising funding, and establishing scalable creative incubation models across Southern Africa. Under the leadership of its founding partners, the corridor aims to provide practical and sustainable pathways for creatives while promoting regional collaboration and innovation within the continent’s cultural industries.