Two of Nigeria's film producers have been selected for one of the most competitive producer development programmes on the African continent. Mimi Bartels and Abba T. Makama have been chosen as part of the 2026 cohort of the African Producers Accelerator, a prestigious initiative designed to support mid-career African producers in building sustainable film businesses and expanding their global reach.
The two Nigerians were chosen from 267 applications submitted across 31 countries, making the selection process one of the most competitive in the programme's history. They join four other producers from across the continent: South Africa's Babalwa Baartman, producer of Good Madam which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was acquired by Shudder; South Africa's David Franciscus, producer of Street Trash; Ghana's Kofi Owusu-Afriyie, whose debut feature The Fisherman premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024; and Sudan's Khalid Awad, producer and cinematographer of Goodbye Julia, which won the Freedom Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023.
Mimi Bartels is the co-founder of Anakle Films and one of Nigeria's highest-grossing producers, with credits including Adire and Kambili: The Whole 30 Yards, both of which were acquired by Netflix. Abba Makama is a Lagos-based multi-hyphenate filmmaker whose work includes the TIFF premieres Green White Green and The Lost Okoroshi.
The African Producers Accelerator is run by Big World Cinema in partnership with the Bertha Foundation and the National Film and Video Foundation of South Africa, and in association with the Durban FilmMart Institute and Central Film School. The 12-week programme offers tailor-made advisory and practical support designed around each producer's specific company and slate.
After three months of intensive preparation, the participants will pitch their projects to selected film investors first at the conclusion of a lab taking place in Cape Town in July, and again at CANEX WKND, a four-day industry event taking place in Lagos in November. The Lagos pitch session is particularly significant as it brings the programme's conclusion directly to Nigerian soil, giving local industry stakeholders a front-row seat to the work being developed.
The selection of two Nigerian producers in a cohort of six is a strong signal of where Nollywood stands in the eyes of the global film development community. Both Bartels and Makama have built careers that extend well beyond the local market, and their inclusion in a programme alongside producers whose credits span Cannes, Venice, and Toronto speaks to the growing international credibility of Nigerian independent
