NECLive Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Organisers of NECLive, West Africa’s largest annual gathering of creative industry professionals, have announced the conception and introduction of a new multi-venue, global format for the conference.

After 10 years in a single city, the conference will now hold simultaneously in other parts of Nigeria; as well as in key cities across Africa, Europe, and America. These changes, according to founder Ayeni Adekunle, are ‘a matter of necessity, given where the industry is today; and in line with the new challenges and opportunities on the horizon.’

Speaking about this, Ayeni said, “When we conceived the idea for an annual conference 10 years ago, it was out of frustration. Frustration about lack of education, about piracy, about lack of platforms and access and opportunities for entertainment practitioners to monetize their talent at scale.

Today, most of those problems have largely been solved. But we are now faced with even bigger problems and opportunities. And I believe that it’s time to begin the work of making sure Africa’s creators and everyone else in the value chain; as well as our societies and economies, get the maximum possible value from our contribution to, and growing participation in the global entertainment marketplace.”

From 2024, the new NECLive will hold over the course of a month, from April to May every year, beginning with a flagship event in Lagos, and running through cities like Abuja, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Ibadan in Nigeria; London and Edinburgh in the United Kingdom; Atlanta and New York in America; and other key African cities like Nairobi, Accra, Johannesburg and more.

The annual conference which started in 2013, has hosted 11 events that have seen over 100,000 participants, reaching an audience of over 100 million in more than 30 countries with over 40 broadcast hours. NECLive has had over 100 partners and sponsors and brokered more than 700 deals.