“I would say that I want EWA to be remembered as that platform that’s helped turn Africa’s raw creative energy into a sustainable global force” – Deola Art Alade.
By Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku
The 2025 edition of Entertainment Week Africa (EWA) opens in November, from 18th to 23rd, with a programming that will span film, music, fashion, and technology. It will be the event’s first edition as EWA, but its fourth as Entertainment Week. For its first three years, from 2022 to 2024, Livespot360, the event’s producers, hosted it as Entertainment Week Lagos at the Livespot Entertarium in Lagos, Nigeria. And while this year’s edition will remain in Lagos (with additional locations beyond Livespot Entertarium), the vision is pan-African.
EWA is convened by Deola Art Alade, serial entrepreneur, entertainment executive, and founder of Livespot360, which she co-founded with Darey Art Alade, recording artiste, music executive, and Chief Creative Officer. With decades of experience in the entertainment industry and at least a dozen years in curating creative events and experiences, the couple is building a vital platform for Africa’s creative economy.
So far, Entertainment Week has recorded over 50,000 attendees, 600 individuals trained, 200 speakers, 100 sessions, 150 short films, and 50 pop-ups, with a reach of 313 million people.
This year’s theme, “Close the Gap”, not only tackles issues of access, investment, and opportunity but also reflects Africa’s growing cultural influence globally, and how the problems limiting that influence can be solved. “When we were trying to workshop the theme for this year, we started looking [at] what are the issues? How can we go back to the drawing board and start to find how to fix these problems so that on the global stage, it becomes natural, we don’t have to fight or stress ourselves to get in there,” Deola Art Alade says.
In this interview, Afrocritik sits with Deola and Darey Art Alade to discuss Entertainment Week Africa, the EWA initiatives that create opportunities for creatives, and the platform’s ultimate legacy.
Entertainment Week Lagos is now Entertainment Week Africa. What inspired the rebrand, and what effect do you expect it to have on the African entertainment ecosystem?
Darey Art Alade: It’s part of the expansion. It’s always been the plan. It’s always been our vision to see Africa coming together as we know that the impact that we can make abroad is always going to be stronger when we come together. And you can see it from the theme of this year. It’s “Close the gap”, and that’s what we’re really trying to do. That link between us as Africans, to make it tighter, so that we can be stronger collectively.
Impact-wise, it’s really about strengthening the creative economy. We want to accelerate collaboration. And it’s also about real access for the young and emerging talents. We want to be able to use this vehicle to empower the next generation of cultural leaders and just promote that thriving environment where they can really accomplish whatever they set their hearts on.
Deola Art Alade: There are a lot of existing platforms, but you know how it is, it’s who you know. How do young people who truly have that talent, who don’t have connections, who don’t know the people at the top, how do they get access? So, ours is more tailored around that.
How do you plan to ensure that participation is not limited to elite circles but is truly accessible to the emerging talents?
Deola Art Alade: If you look at even our call to entry, we’re going to all the hubs, we’re going to schools. It’s not about the elite. If anybody calls, that they know Deola, go to the website and register.
Darey Art Alade: The process is straightforward.
Deola Art Alade: Yes, so it’s not about who you know. It’s open to everybody. So, if [you] get selected, for instance, to showcase, it’ll be based on your merit, not about who you know. I always say that your work should speak for you.
Beyond panels and showcases, are there initiatives within EWA to create business opportunities and partnerships for creatives?
Deola Art Alade: We have the Deal Room, the funding. A month or two before we start, it’s almost like an accelerator programme, if you have great ideas, we bring you in, then we get mentors to help you. Because sometimes, you have a great idea but you don’t know how to pitch it. So, you get coaching just before you sit in front of the funders.
We have the Labspot Creative Skills and Enterprise Development; it’s more of upscaling. For people who go through those programmes, we actually place them within the industry as well. We have people who came to train in stage design and lighting. A lot of them are hired now, either by us or by projects happening. So, we recommend them as well. So, that continuity. What we want to start doing now is to track it so that people can also see the result.
And also, policies. Of course, leveraging certain relationships in helping to put together policies that can benefit the industry. That is more long term. We’re doing a lot quietly.
Darey Art Alade: There are new additions. For example, Story Lab, Sound Lab.
Deola Art Alade: The Story Lab tackles the issue of helping people build how they write scripts. Same with the Sound Lab.
Darey Art Alade: The premise is the same, but we now kind of cascade it across, whether it’s for writers or it’s for music or for fashion. So, go back, tackle some of the root issues, and then develop from there. We also have the AI Hackathon, the Creative Job Fair, Creators’ Day, EWA Music Market, and Content Market. These are really, really important because they’re tackling actual issues.
Deola Art Alade: The Deal Room, the Content Market, and the Music Market is where trading actually does happen. So, for instance, [if] you have a film, you may be able to find music that you can use as your soundtrack, and you’re able to pay for it. Two production companies can come together to do a co-production. So, that’s what we’re looking at this year. And, of course, people need to come and have fun. Come, learn, but also have fun.
How much will the programming for this year’s edition include creatives from other African countries beyond Nigeria?
Deola Art Alade: We’re making deliberate efforts. We’re partnering with some pan-African platforms, PR companies as well, and also communities. We’re also leveraging Darey’s network, being an artiste over the years. But, eventually, what we’re going to do is roadshows in these different regions, from next year.
Even from the previous years, we’ve always had people from all over Africa and the diaspora. But this year, we’re being more deliberate to be more inclusive. So, for instance, even with the films we’re screening, we’re going to screen films from [across] Africa, as well. Within the first week of opening, we’ve had over a thousand entries already.
Darey Art Alade: That’s just for films. And that cuts across everything: animations, short films, feature-lengths, all sorts of entries. I mean, if you know, short films have no home, really. This is a platform where you can showcase your short film.
How does EWA intend to distinguish itself from other multidisciplinary cultural festivals on the continent?
Darey Art Alade: I think it already does. Based on all the experiences that feature at Entertainment Week, you can already tell. It’s not just about music, film, fashion, or tech; it’s also about building the ecosystem that powers all of those things. Add all of that to things like the Deal Room, Job Fairs, masterclasses, policy conversations.
It’s not just come and perform. You’re also able to meet investors; you’re able to meet collaborators. From those conversations, that’s how opportunities come. Coming to Entertainment Week is like watching the creative economy come to life. So, all the different moving parts or the different things about the sector really come alive at Entertainment Week.
Deola Art Alade: [EWA is] by the creatives for the creatives. A lot of the festivals that are run are run by the business people. A lot of them are not practising. We are practising. We’re in the industry; we know what the problems are.
Again, I would say, as a creative, you can’t be a lone ranger. We’re all interconnected. There’s no film without music, there’s no film without fashion. Film, fashion, the tech you use for it. So, that co-existence is very important, in my opinion. Creatives are not siloed.
How do you plan to make EWA a sustainable event that can continue and evolve over time?
Deola Art Alade: It’s been in the pipeline for the longest time. And when there’s a purpose, there’s a vision that’s properly laid out, then it’s easy to sustain. There’s also expansion. I think by next year, we’re going to expand to art, as well. Then, there’s impact. I think that impact is very important for sustainability.
Darey Art Alade: But sustainability also depends on everybody’s support. It’s actually down to collaboration and the entire sector coming together. Other like-minded platforms or even the government, it takes all of us coming together to see this succeed continuously. This is us doing this as a development platform. This is the fourth year we’re doing it. Sustainability is going to be subject to…
Deola Art Alade: The access we’re able to unlock, the deals we can sign, the jobs we create. This year, we’re doing a lot of data-driven insights.
Darey Art Alade: And it’s for the long term. It’s not a one-off. So, we have to marry everything. Revenue streams, IP, partnerships, making sure all these things continue to happen.
Deola Art Alade: And then, even model solutions that policymakers and investors can adopt, as well. We were having a conversation with some investors, and they were like, the problem is that they don’t understand the industry. So, we’re actually having a panel where we’re bringing in some investors, bankers. They don’t understand us, let them come and hear from us, but also tell us how we can structure better so that they’re able to support the industry.
Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for EWA, and what would you consider its ultimate legacy?
Deola and Darey Art Alade: To be Africa’s definitive creative convergence, in a nutshell.
Darey Art Alade: The place, that place, where structure meets commerce, ideas meet action, and most importantly, where the next gen of cultural leaders are empowered. It’s great what we have achieved so far. Yes, people were there before us. Yes, some of our biggest talents are doing it big. But that next generation, the continuity, it’s very important.
Deola Art Alade: I would say that I want EWA to be remembered as that platform that’s helped turn Africa’s raw creative energy into a sustainable global force. And for us, everything we’re doing with EWA is very sincere. For the first few years, we’ve been self-funded. A few sponsors here and there, but mainly self-funded. And people have attended for free. So, it’s about that impact. And of course, very importantly, everything you do, you have to pay it forward.
Vivian Nneka Nwajiaku is a writer, film critic, TV lover, and occasional storyteller writing from Lagos. She has a master’s degree in law but spends most of her time watching, reading about and discussing films and TV shows. She’s particularly concerned about what art has to say about society’s relationship with women. Connect with her on X @Nneka_Viv