D’banj’s C.R.E.A.M. platform said on Friday, November 13, that it signed an equity investment agreement with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) vehicle CANEX Creations at a November 6 ceremony in Lagos. The announcement follows a conditional term sheet signed by the parties in Abuja in June 2025.
For Nigeria’s music business, the distinction matters. An investment in a company that sells music and develops talent could help finance an alternative route to listeners, but an announced agreement does not tell artists how much capital has arrived, what share of the platform changed hands, or what they would earn from its services. None of those deal terms has been disclosed in the accounts reviewed for this report.
What C.R.E.A.M. announced
Punch reported on November 13 that Matthew Ohio, C.R.E.A.M.’s vice president of music and distribution, issued a statement about the signing. Premium Times also reported the November 6 ceremony and identified the investor as CANEX Creations, an Afreximbank investment vehicle. The reports describe an equity investment in C.R.E.A.M., which is operated by D’Kings Men Media Ltd. They do not provide a stake percentage, price or a separate date on which shares were transferred.
That last point is important because the public position a year ago was narrower. The Condia reported in July 2025 that CANEX Creations and D’Kings Men Media had signed a term sheet for a proposed equity investment. Its account said the transaction remained subject to due diligence and final board approval. Friday’s announcement describes another signing, but the available statements do not spell out whether those conditions were fulfilled or publish closing documents. The desk therefore cannot independently confirm the final ownership position.
CANEX Creations chief executive Osahon Akpata said in the statement reported by Punch that the investor expected its backing to accelerate C.R.E.A.M.’s growth. That is a statement of intent, not a reported result. The next material disclosure would be the amount invested and the corporate stake acquired, followed by evidence of how the funding changes the platform’s reach or payments to creators.
The platform already has a sales channel
C.R.E.A.M. describes itself on its website as a direct-to-consumer platform for talent discovery, content sales and fan services. It says it has more than seven million subscribers across Nigeria and offers access through the web, an app and the *463# unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) code. That subscriber figure is the company’s own claim; no independently audited count was available in the sources reviewed.
The site shows songs offered for purchase, giving the investment announcement a visible product context. InterSpace Daily reported last week on C.R.E.A.M.’s addition of selected Cinq recordings to its Nigerian USSD sales channel. The investment announcement is a separate corporate development, rather than evidence that those sales have reached a particular scale. Neither the new statement nor the public platform page provides a transaction total or a breakdown of what artists retain per sale.
The useful next test is disclosure: a completed investment with stated terms, then measurable changes in creators’ access to funding, distribution or sales. Until then, the verified news is C.R.E.A.M.’s announcement of a November signing and the business case it says CANEX Creations is backing.
