Entertainment Week Africa 2025: Close the Gap

Close the Gap was the strategic theme and organising framework behind the inaugural Entertainment Week Africa, a pan-African expansion of Entertainment Week Lagos. The campaign was created to address structural gaps limiting the growth and global competitiveness of Africa’s creative economy, particularly across: • Skills and capacity development • Access to capital and markets • Visibility and representation • Mentorship and ecosystem support • Policy engagement and regulation • Creative and technology infrastructure • Local-to-global participation pathways Rather than functioning as a slogan, Close the Gap operated as a campaign system, shaping programming, partnerships, content, and outcomes across the week.

By 2025, African creative industries had achieved unprecedented global visibility across music, fashion, film, technology, and entrepreneurship. However, Entertainment Week’s multiyear ecosystem insights revealed a disconnect between visibility and structure. Creative talent existed. Global interest existed. What lagged were systems. Close the Gap was launched to convert cultural momentum into durable infrastructure, economic opportunity, and long-term industry development.

Entertainment Week Africa was delivered as a six-day, multi-location cultural and industry takeover of Lagos, activating four key venues: • Livespot Entertarium • Eko Hotel • EbonyLife Place • Alliance Française Programming was structured around targeted platforms, including: • The Deal Room: Startup vetting, investor readiness, and pitch sessions • Story Lab: Film and television development workshops • Creators Hub & Hackathon: Tech, art, and innovation collaboration • Advocacy & Policy Panels: Industry-defining conversations • Music, Fashion, Film, and Creator Labs: Skills, access, and co-creation • Speakers, Facilitators and Mentors: Nigerian and international celebrities and icons across industries, government representatives, C-suite officials and industry leaders.

• 178+ startups vetted, with 9 advanced to investor pitch sessions • 4 startups declared fully investor-ready • 75+ music, fashion, and comedy showcases • 120+ speakers across Film & TV, AI & Tech, Fashion & Beauty, Content, Entrepreneurship, Live Events. • 80+ sessions (panels, masterclasses, workshops, roundtables, think tanks, hackathons) • 93 films screened, including flagships and a major documentary, “Chronicles of Afrobeats.” • Significant deal-making, partnerships, and policy conversations initiated