LAGOS, NIGERIA — JULY 2026 — Entertainment Week Africa (EWA) will return to Lagos from 17 to 22 November 2026 for its fifth anniversary edition, marking half a decade with an expanded pan-African edition built around deal flow, capital access, talent development, intellectual property and continental market access across Africa’s creative economy. 

The anniversary edition runs under the theme “Closing the Gap,” reflecting EWA’s mission to convert African creative visibility into long-term value, ownership and opportunity. Five years in, EWA is evolving from a major cultural gathering into a structured creative-economy platform; the marketplace where talent, founders, investors, commissioners, buyers, policymakers, platforms, brands and institutions meet to do business across a $59 billion creative economy. 

Under the theme “Closing the Gap,” Entertainment Week Africa 2026 expands its Fashion and Beauty programme, building on a Runway Coterie that received 120+ entries in 2025 and put ten emerging designers on a continental stage, as the platform evolves into a structured market environment connecting African designers with buyers, brand partners, and commercial infrastructure. 

What began as a Lagos creative-industry event has grown into a pan-African platform connecting culture, capital, technology and global opportunity. Across its first four editions, EWA has become an institution of 67,800+ cumulative attendees. The 2025 edition alone drew 28,683 pass-holders from 8+ countries and 50+ industries across 61 sessions, 93 film screenings, 20 music showcases and 9 fashion showcases, generating 5M+ online engagements and 800M+ digital reach and impressions across Africa, Asia, North America and Europe.

Celebrating Entertainment Week Africa At 5

• EWA has convened 67,800+ cumulative attendees across its first four editions, including 28,683 pass-holders in 2025, driving 5M+ online engagements and 800M+ digital reach and impressions last year 
• The anniversary edition brings programming and delegations from Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, and more, targeting 18+ African countries, with 30–40% of delegates travelling from outside Nigeria 
• Seven tracks: Art & Animation joins Film & TV, Music, Fashion & Beauty, AI & Tech, Live Events & Production and Creative Enterprise 

The 2026 Fashion and Beauty programme builds on one of EWA’s most compelling platforms for emerging African design talent. The 2025 EWA Runway Coterie received over 120 entries and put ten emerging designers on a stage that reached 28,683 attendees from across Africa and beyond. In 2026, EWA expands that platform into a more structured commercial 

environment, connecting African designers with buyers, brand partners, press, and the commercial infrastructure that turns runway moments into lasting businesses. For designers, stylists, beauty founders, editors, buyers, and fashion industry executives, EWA 2026 is the most significant fashion business platform on the African continent. 

EWA 2026 will cover seven core tracks — Film & TV; Music; Fashion & Beauty; AI & Tech; Art & Animation; Live Events & Production; and Creative Enterprise. Each track is designed not only as a content programme but as a platform for practical outcomes: pitch opportunities, closed-door industry sessions, talent development, market access and post-event follow-through.

The 2026 programme places a stronger emphasis on structured commercial formats, anchored by the EWA Deal Room, its Content and Music Markets, the EWA Capital Desk, the Creators Hub, and LABSPOT, the platform’s skills and enterprise development engine, connecting sellers in film and music to buyers, distributors and investors, and pairing skilled creatives with real opportunities. 

The 2025 edition demonstrated the demand for a platform of this scale. The EWA Deal Room received 178+ entries, with 9 companies advancing to the accelerator programme and four companies — Aktivate, FriendnPal, Growwr and Sports Reels — attracting live investor interest in the room. Investors and ecosystem partners connected to the Deal Room and Hackathon included Future Africa, Catalyst Fund, Consonance Invest and Askya Investment Partners. For 2026, EWA will design more intentional pathways between creatives, founders, investors, commissioners, buyers, distributors, platforms and institutions. 

EWA’s international momentum has grown through EWA Creative Connect, the exclusive convening series extending the platform beyond Lagos. EWA Creative Connect launched earlier

this year in Los Angeles during Grammy Week 2026 before continuing in London during the Nigeria-UK state visit. The series has convened senior executives from Warner Records, Adobe, Amazon, Dramabox, Afrexim, Unilever, the British Film Institute, Diageo, NBO Capital, Ministry of Trade and Investment, and many more global brands, bringing senior diplomatic figures into direct engagement with Africa’s creative economy. 

“As we mark five years of EWA, this moment is deeply significant,” said Deola Art Alade, Convener of Entertainment Week Africa and Group CEO of Livespot. “EWA started with a simple but urgent belief: African creativity deserves stronger platforms, better access and greater value. Today, the work is no longer just about convening the industry; it is about building the systems that help talent meet capital, ideas meet opportunity, and culture become long-term economic power. EWA 2026 is our boldest expression of that mission.” 

“Entertainment Week Africa has always sat at the intersection of creativity, culture and opportunity,” said Darey Art Alade, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Livespot. “As EWA enters its fifth year, we are focused on creating an experience that is not only inspiring, but useful. The next generation of African creative talent needs access, learning, platforms, community and real pathways into work and enterprise. EWA 2026 is about building those bridges with intention.” 

More photos from the Entertainment Week Africa Event… 

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