Canva is expanding its South African footprint with new tools, training and partnerships designed to unlock Africa’s creative potential.
EXCLUSIVE FEATURE
Africa has always been rich in imagination. What’s been missing is access to the tools, training and technology that turn raw creativity into sustainable opportunity. This year, Canva is making that gap smaller than ever. With a rapidly growing South African team, new education and creator partnerships, and a suite of locally relevant tools, Canva is signalling something bold and overdue: Africa is no longer an afterthought in the global creative economy but a legitimate player.
A Global Giant, Grounded Locally
Fresh off passing $3.5 billion in annual revenue and 260 million monthly active users, Canva has every reason to focus on markets that have already matured. Instead, the company has chosen to deepen its investment in South Africa and the rest of the continent, because that’s where the next wave of design innovation will come from.
Over 77 million designs were created by South Africans this year alone [2025]. Posters, IG posts and Presentations topping list. Township classrooms to agency boardrooms. It’s a reflection of a country that doesn’t wait for permission to create.
Africa is home to extraordinary creativity, energy, and potential, and we’re proud to deepen our commitment on the ground,” says Duncan Clark, Head of EMEA at Canva.
That commitment now includes a dedicated local team of nine, operating from the new Canva office at AfricaWorks in Rosebank.
Their mandate? Build for Africa, not just in Africa.
Language, Culture, Access: Made Local
For years, creatives across the continent have had to squeeze themselves into tools never designed with them in mind. Canva is intentionally reversing that imbalance.
The platform now spans nearly 20 African languages, from isiZulu and Swahili to Hausa and Afrikaans, a simple shift with a massive message: creativity should feel native. This isn’t a copy–paste localisation strategy. It’s culture-led design. It’s relevance.
Whether it’s a young person designing from a township classroom or a creator turning their talent into income, we want Africans to feel like Canva was made with them and for them,” says Dr. Mzamo Masito, Canva’s Africa Expansion Lead.
Dr. Mzamo Masito, Canva’s Africa Expansion Lead.
Education: Where Africa’s Future Is Writing Itself
By 2050, 40% of the world’s schoolchildren will live in Africa, a statistic Duncan Clark calls “one of the most important signals of the future”. If the future of work is visual and digital, Africa can’t afford to be left behind.
That’s why Canva for Education is partnering with Rhodes, UCT, UJ, University of Pretoria, HEITSA, ALU and more, bringing free design tools directly into lecture halls and computer labs across the continent. A standout example: Africa’s leading private education group, ADvTECH, rolled out Canva across its 100+ schools this year. Since July, students and teachers have created over 30,000 designs.
What Africa Has in Creativity, It Has Earned Without Tools
At 10and5, we’ve always said that African creativity is unmatched, not because of abundance, but because of scarcity. People innovate with what they have. Duncan echoes the sentiment:
We’re huge believers in human creativity at Canva… and nowhere more so than in Africa. Our mission is just to provide tools that empower people to unlock that creativity.”
IMAGE: Duncan Clark, Head of EMEA at Canva.
And those tools now include one of Canva’s boldest decisions yet: Affinity is completely free. For decades, professional-grade creative software has been priced so high that entire generations of African designers were locked out before they even began. Affinity shatters that barrier. Every student, freelancer, or self-taught designer can now access pro tools without breaking their budget, reshaping who gets to participate in visual culture at a high level.
Creators, SMBs, and the Hustle Economy Get a Lift
Africa’s creative economy is growing fast and, as Liam Fisher, global marketing lead for Affinity by Canva adds, more commercially minded than most global markets. “I’ve never seen this level of commercial acumen anywhere else. Young designers know they can build a business here,” he says.
IMAGE: Liam Fisher, global marketing lead for Affinity by Canva
For small businesses and freelancers, Canva becomes a brand-building engine: Pitch decks, Order forms, Websites, Social posts, Invoices and visual identity systems. Everything needed for a side hustle or a scaling startup to look world-class. Add to that the Canva Africa Design Challenge, offering mentorship, cash prizes, and global visibility and suddenly, African creatives are not just participating in the global market, they’re shaping it.
Removing Barriers, Seamlessly
Accessibility also means affordability.So Canva introduced:
Local currency pricing (SA, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana)
Short-term Pro plans (daily, weekly)
M-PESA, Verve, and bank transfers
Design as Expression, Design as Identity
Liam puts it simply: “Design is the language of all expression.”More than aesthetics, design is how people show who they are, what they believe, what they offer. And African creatives are proving daily that expression and enterprise can coexist, creativity as identity, and creativity as livelihood. “Creativity has no barriers, no rules. Tools should never dictate how someone creates.”
A Future Built In Africa, For the World
With Affinity free, payments localised, education partnerships accelerating, and culturally relevant tools rolling out across the continent, Canva isn’t just planting its flag in Africa. It’s planting roots. And for a continent that has always had the talent, imagination, and hustle, but not always the tools, this moment marks something transformative:African creativity finally meets global access.
