Seyebomi Ogunsanya, widely known as Sheye Banks, has reiterated a conviction that has gained traction across the continent: African creativity is a premier export with the power to reshape global culture and commerce. Speaking on a creativity and innovation panel at the Africa Blockchain Festival 2025 in Kigali, Banks argued that the continent’s artists, storytellers and cultural entrepreneurs already possess the raw material for global influence — what remains is the infrastructure to amplify and protect their work.
Banks framed emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence not as replacements for African expression but as tools that can magnify it. “AI, Blockchain, technology should be our global microphone — something that doesn’t change who we are, but makes our voice louder, clearer, and impossible to ignore,” he told the festival audience. For Banks, these technologies offer practical solutions to long‑standing problems around ownership, monetisation and access, enabling creators to capture more value from their work and to reach audiences without intermediaries that often extract disproportionate returns.
Central to Banks’s message is the idea that technological adoption must be paired with capacity building and ethical stewardship. As founder of Hevy Hub, a Lagos‑based creative‑tech incubator, he described a mission that goes beyond product development to include mentorship, character formation and ecosystem building. Hevy Hub aims to equip “hybrid creators” with both artistic skills and technological fluency so they can navigate digital markets, leverage blockchain for provenance and royalties, and use AI to expand creative possibilities while retaining cultural authenticity.
Banks warned that the continent’s creative potential remains underexploited because of gaps in resources and structural support. He argued that without deliberate investment in digital infrastructure, legal frameworks for intellectual property, and accessible tools for creators, Africa risks exporting raw cultural content while losing the economic benefits to external platforms and intermediaries. “Creativity is Africa’s strongest export. But without tools, support, and proper ecosystems, our potential remains underserved,” he said, calling for coordinated action from governments, investors and the private sector.
Ownership and access were recurring themes in Banks’s remarks. He urged stakeholders to adopt blockchain solutions that can secure provenance and ensure creators receive fair compensation, while also promoting AI and other digital tools that expand creative expression and distribution. For Banks, the combination of ownership technologies and broader digital access will allow African creators to compete on equal footing in global markets and to build sustainable careers rooted in local culture.
The broader implication of Banks’s argument is economic as well as cultural: when creators retain ownership and capture value, creative industries can become engines of jobs, innovation and export revenue. Hevy Hub’s model — blending incubation, technical training and ethical mentorship — is presented as a practical pathway to nurture the next generation of African cultural entrepreneurs who can translate creativity into scalable businesses.
Banks’s remarks at the Africa Blockchain Festival reflect a growing consensus among creative and tech leaders across Africa: culture and technology are complementary assets that, when combined thoughtfully, can unlock new opportunities for creators and communities. His call to treat technology as an amplifier rather than a replacement for African voices underscores a strategic vision in which the continent’s cultural output is both celebrated and economically empowered on the world stage.