“We do not ask for a place: we open the door. » These words, spoken by Fatim Cissé, general director of DUX CI and leading figure of the Kaydan group, sealed much more than a simple contract, a continental ambition. It was during the VivaTech show in Paris. Côte d'Ivoire is thus establishing itself as a continental creative hub. The Kaydan group (through its subsidiaries Kaydan Technology and DUX) has obtained the exclusive franchise of the World AI Film Festival for ten French-speaking African nations (Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad and Togo). The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Digital Transition, Djibril Ouattara, and Marco Landi, president of the EuropIA Institute and founder of WAiFF, a festival born in Cannes around works generated by AI.

The first continental edition of WAiFF Africa is scheduled for February 2027 in Abidjan. The festival will feature international film competitions open to African creators, training in AI tools for young talents, and a “Road to Cannes” program propelling the winners directly to the Palais des Festivals, to face creators from more than 80 countries. The presence of Minister Djibril Ouattara during the signing is not anecdotal, it reflects the convergence between the national innovation policy and the audacity of a private sector determined to make Abidjan the crossroads of augmented audiovisual creation in Africa.

With this agreement, Côte d'Ivoire is no longer content to follow the revolution of AI, she becomes one of the cultural architects on the continent.