The inaugural edition of Entertainment Week Africa (EWA) represented a cultural festival that brought together creators, executives, investors, policymakers and industry leaders for a six-day, multi-venue event. Featuring an impressive line-up of stars including Tiwa Savage, Teni, Don Jazzy, Yemi Alade, Waje and Sasha P.
The founder of Entertainment Week Africa, Deola Art Alade, said the idea for the event arose from the vitality of Lagos as an economic, intellectual and artistic hub. “Our ambition for the coming years is for Entertainment Week Africa to establish itself as a fundamental part of the economic, intellectual and artistic capital of this great city. We are delighted with the first steps towards that,” he said.
The event, which positioned Lagos as a rising global hub for creative economy innovation, was held at several of the most prominent venues for creative endeavors in Lagos, including Livespot Entertarium, Eko Hotel, EbonyLife Place, Alliance Française and Heritage Place.
According to organizers, in just its first edition, the festival, themed ‘Close the Gap’, laid a powerful foundation for pan-African creative mobility and global cultural exchange and served as a challenge and model, uniting talent, capital, policies and platforms in one ecosystem.
At the opening night, dignitaries such as Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Trade and Investment; Johnny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner; Olufolake Abdulrazaq, First Lady of Kwara State; Toke Benson Awoyinka and the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture.
In his remarks, Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner, highlighted the diplomatic and economic importance of the festival. “Africa Entertainment Week represents a week of celebration, partnership and progress. By bridging the gap, we are not just building bridges; we are creating highways for ideas, talent and investment to flow freely between Nigeria and the United Kingdom,” he said.
Over the six days of the festival, November 18-23, the event welcomed 28,683 passholders from over 8 countries and over 50 different industries across the program’s cross-disciplinary creator, screen, music and conference touchpoints.
A landmark conversation on gender equality with Yemi Alade, Waje, Qing Madi, Teni, Sasha P and Tiwa Savage highlighted representation gaps, with lines such as “Of the top 100 Nigerian songs on Apple Music, there is only one female song”, “The gap is too wide, we need to balance the scales”, while music executive Don Jazzy added: “We are too masculine… It affects the numbers, the airplay, the clubs.”
The four main countries of the festival, apart from Nigeria, are Ghana, Senegal, Kenya and the United Kingdom. Passes for the inaugural event were purchased by 51 different industries, with the largest attendance being entertainment, while sectors such as creators, advertising, music, technology, media, marketing and film were among those well represented. Others came from industries such as business consulting, events; design; public relations and communication services.
EWA 2025 offered more than 35 panels, 22 workshops, 20 master classes and 93 film screenings, addressing topics such as distribution channels, creative entrepreneurship, emerging technology, youth culture and cross-border mobility. Creators and young professionals moved fluidly through the different hubs, as Creators Hub, Creative Job Fair, Gen Z Republic and EWA Creative Marketplace attracted large crowds.
In the field of cinematographic offerings, the recently released Chronicles of Afrobeat, produced by Bankulli, stands out; the revolutionary The Herd, by Daniel Etim-Effiong; Dust to Dream produced by Mo Abudu and directed by Idris Elba, and Mama Nike and Magazine Dreams, accompanied by highly demanding directing sessions.
There was also a four-day intensive short story lab workshop for aspiring writers facilitated by Lani Aisida, Nicole Asinugo and Dami Elebe, and supported by Netflix, Amazon Prime, NdaniTV and Africa Magic. Out of 15 contenders, the session resulted in a shortlist of 8 participants who ended up producing 6 polished loglines and story concepts ready to present.
The trading floor embodied the theme “Closing the Gap,” with four days of mentorship, coaching labs and investor sessions. It received more than 178 applications, and 9 companies made it to the accelerator program after a series of interviews. Four of these companies – Aktivate, FriendnPal, Growwr and Sports Reels – were identified as completely ready to scale, and each of them attracted interest from investors in the room. Beyond the numbers, the founders reached key milestones, which for many was the first time they addressed investors.
This momentum has already translated into continental success: Atsur, one of the startups that participated in the EWA Deal Room, recently won a cash prize after placing fourth among the five winners in the prestigious NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator pitch competition held in Rwanda, demonstrating EWA’s role in driving African talent to the global stage.
The Hackathon portion of the event extended this impact through two days of product refinement, where 10 teams were selected to quickly build and iterate. Three notable companies emerged from the sprint: Musetter (Music Tech), Owambe (Fashion Tech) and Alaba (Music Tech). Some of the investors supporting Deal Room and Hackathon include Future Africa, Askya Investment Partners, Catalyst Fund and Consonance Invest.
Fashion programming also took center stage, with over 120 entries, 10 emerging designers, all of whom were showcased on the EWA Runway Coterie stage, highlighting designers such as Korede James, Dust of the Earth, Nex by Necca, Josh Amor, PK Crochet, Estaz, David Black, Bernard Samuel and Sevon Dejana. Each of the designers presents cutting-edge interpretations of contemporary African style.
The week also featured celebratory cultural moments, including Jokes & Jollof, where Big Spoon 2025 winner Lucky Chidiebere Obi received a £1 million prize and the announcement of his upcoming tour with Basketmouth.
The event was supported by sponsors including Livespot, Rent-A-Rig, Heineken, Lagos State Tourism, Pepsi, MTN, TikTok, British High Commission, Canadian High Commission, US Embassy, Essenza, Multichoice, Eko Hotel, EbonyLife Place and Alliance Française. Other industry partners include Blu Pictures, Netflix, Amazon Prime, NdaniTV, Africa Magic, Choc City, ONErpm, Vuga Music, Alec, Mad Solutions, Circuits Global Solutions, Africa Magic, Showmax, Wonder Media Kind, MBO Capital, Regal Stone Capital, Xchange, Empire, ONErpm, Virgin Music, WeTalkSound, Chocolate City, Rollingstone Africa, TechCabal, Marie Claire, Business Insider Africa, News Central TV, Culture Custodian, Business Day, BellaNaija, Olori Supergirl, Nollywire, Amplify Africa, Trace and CoolFM.
In her closing remarks, Tiwa Medubi, CEO of Livespot360, underlined the essence of the event, stating: “This year, under the theme ‘Bridging the Gap’, we set out to do something very specific: bring talent, capital, policies and platforms in the same room, not in theory, but in practice.
“In every lab, panel, exhibit, screening and presentation, one thing became clear: the gap between potential and reality is closing, because people are doing the work.”
The festival will return next year and run from 17 to 22 November 2026, with expanded pan-African programming and a continued commitment to accelerate the growth of the creative industry across the continent.