Entertainment Week Africa 2025 Wraps First Edition With A Bang

The inaugural Entertainment Week Africa (EWA) introduced collectively creators, executives, merchants, policymakers and industry leaders for a six-day, multi-venue festival that positioned Lagos as a rising world centre for ingenious-economic system innovation. Taking on Livespot Entertarium, Eko Resort, EbonyLife Jam and Alliance Française, the festival’s first model plan a worthy foundation for pan-African ingenious mobility and world cultural commerce. Here’s a summary of what went down:

• 28,683 attendees all the plan in which by 8+ countries and 50+ industries attended EWA2025.
• Five multi-venue hubs: Livespot Entertarium, Eko Resort, EbonyLife Jam, Alliance Française and Heritage Jam.
• 150+ audio system; 61 sessions; 93 movies screened; 20 tune showcases; 9 model showcases; 9 tech startups (Deal Room); 10 Hackathon companies; 8 Soundlab producers, 8 Soundlab songwriters, 8 bellow market companions; 6 tune market companions, alongside with Empire and Virgin Music.
• 5 million+ on-line engagements and 800 million+ digital attain and impressions all the plan in which by Asia, Africa, North The US, and Europe.
• Entertainment Week Africa became visited by a colossal different of leaders, alongside with the Minister of Alternate and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, British Deputy Excessive Commissioner Johnny Baxter, First Girl of Kwara Say, Olufolake Abdulrazaq, Tiwa Savage, Don Jazzy, Yemi Alade, Waje, Sasha P, and extra. The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Lagos, says the tournament “showed what’s seemingly when passionate voices from all the plan in which by the ingenious industries are introduced collectively”

Over the six days of the festival (18th – Twenty third November), EWA welcomed 28,683 lunge-holders from 8+ countries and over 50 varied industries all the plan in which by its convention, screen, tune and interdisciplinary creator programme. The discontinue four countries to refer to the festival, alongside with Nigeria, had been Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, and the UK. Passes to the inaugural tournament had been bought by 51 varied industries, with the very most intriguing attendance from entertainment, creators, advertising and marketing, tune, technology, media, advertising and marketing, filmmaking, industry consulting, occasions, have, public family & communication companies.

This year’s theme, “End the Gap,” served as each and each a mutter and a blueprint, uniting abilities, capital, coverage and platforms in a single ecosystem. Livespot360’s Managing Director, Tiwa Medubi, underscored this in her closing remarks:

“This year, below the theme ‘End the Gap,’ we plan out to enact something very particular: lift abilities, capital, coverage and platforms into the identical room – no longer in conception, but in practice.” She added:

“Across each and each lab, panel, showcase, screening and efficiency, one component became sure: the gap between seemingly and reality is closing, as a result of folks are doing the work.”

OpeningNight drew dignitaries alongside with British Deputy Excessive Commissioner Johnny Baxter; the First Girl of Kwara Say, Her Excellency Olufolake Abdulrazaq; Commissioner for Tourism, Arts & Culture, Toke Benson Awoyinka; Minister of Alternate & Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, and extra. British Deputy Excessive Commissioner, Jonny Baxter, emphasised the festival’s diplomatic and economic significance:

“Entertainment Week Africa represents every week of occasion, partnership and progress… By Closing The Gap, we’re no longer trusty constructing bridges; we’re rising highways for tips, abilities and investments to lunge alongside with the circulation freely between Nigeria and the UK.”

EWA delivered extra than 35 panels, 22 workshops, 20 masterclasses, and 93 movie screenings, tackling topics adore distribution pipelines, ingenious entrepreneurship, emerging technology, early life culture, and imperfect-border mobility. Creators and younger experts moved fluidly by the Creators Hub, Creative Job Luminous, Gen Z Republic, and the EWA Creative Marketplace. Film highlights included Chronicles of Afrobeat, The Herd, Mud to Dream, and Mama Nike & Journal Objectives, accompanied by excessive-attach a question to director sessions.

A4-day intensive Chronicle Lab workshop for aspiring writers, facilitated by Lani Aisida, Nicole Asinugo and Dami Elebe, and supported by Netflix, Amazon Top, NdaniTV and Africa Magic. 15 contenders shortlisted to eight participants, producing 6 polished loglines and pitch-ready yarn ideas.

The Deal Room embodied the theme “End The Gap”: four days of mentorship, readiness labs and investor sessions. It got 178+ entries, with 9 companies making it to the accelerator programme after a chain of interviews. Four of those companies: Aktivate, FriendnPal, Growwr and Sports Reels, had been is thought as completely ready to scale, each and each attracting investor hobby within the room. Beyond the numbers, founders hit key milestones: for many, it became their first time pitching to merchants. In parallel, the Hackathon extended this influence by two days of product refinement, the attach 10 groups had been chosen to originate and iterate . Three standout companies: Musetter (Music Tech), Owambe (Vogue Tech) and Alaba (Music Tech) emerged from the stir.  Merchants supporting the Deal Room and Hackathon included Future Africa, Askya Investment Partners, Catalyst Fund and Consonance Make investments.

In a landmark gender-equity conversation with Yemi Alade, Waje, Qing Madi, Teni, Sasha P, and Tiwa Savage spotlighted representation gaps:

“Out of the top 100 songs in Nigeria on Apple Music, there’s most productive one female tune… The gap is simply too huge, now we contain got to stability the size.” Music govt Don Jazzy added: “We’re too masculine… It impacts the numbers, the airplay, the golf equipment”.

Vogue programming also took centre stage, with 120+ entries, 10 emerging designers, all of whom showcased on the EWA Runway Coterie stage, spotlighting designers corresponding to Korede James, Mud of the Earth, Nex by Necca, Josh Amor, PK Crochet, Estaz, David Dark, Bernard Samuel and Sevon Dejana, each and each presenting forward-pondering interpretations of contemporary African vogue.

The week also featured celebratory cultural moments, alongside with Jokes & Jollof, the attach Lucky Chidiebere Obi, winner of Extraordinary Spoon 2025, got a ₦1 million prize and the announcement of his upcoming tour with Basketmouth.

EWA 2025 became made seemingly by the give a enhance to of its sponsors, venue, industry, bellow, tune market, and media companions, alongside with:
Livespot, Rent-A-Rig, Heineken, Lagos Say Tourism, Pepsi, MTN, TikTok, British Excessive Payment, Excessive Payment of Canada, US Embassy, Essenza, Multichoice; venue companions Eko Resort, EbonyLife Jam, Alliance Française, Livespot Entertarium; industry companions Blu Photos, Netflix, Amazon Top, NdaniTV, Africa Magic, Choc City, ONErpm, Vuga Music, Alec, Furious Solutions;

Remark material market companions:
Blue Photos Entertainment, Circuits World Solutions, Africa Magic, Showmax, MTN, Shock Media Form, MBO Capital, Regal Stone Capital; tune market companions Xchange, Empire, ONErpm, Virgin Music, WeTalkSound, Chocolate City; and media companions Rollingstone Africa, TechCabal, Marie Claire, WeTalkSound, Alternate Insider Africa, News Central TV, Culture Custodian, Alternate Day, BellaNaija, Olori Supergirl, Nollywire, Magnify Africa, Imprint, CoolFM.

Founder of Entertainment Week Africa, Deola Artwork Alade acknowledged: “Our ambition over the approaching years is for Entertainment Week Africa to connect itself as a first-rate half of the industrial, psychological and ingenious capital of this colossal metropolis. We’re pleased with the first steps in direction of that.”

The festival returns from November 17–22, 2026, themed “Closing the Gap,” with expanded pan-African programming and a persevered dedication to accelerating ingenious-industry enhance all the plan in which by the continent.

Registration is now start on the net page.

BellaNaija is a Media Partner for Entertainment Week Africa