At NECLive8, stakeholders discuss future of entertainment industry

Last Sunday, ID Africa, organisers of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive), Nigeria’s largest gathering of entertainment professionals, held the eighth edition of the conference. This is the first instalment since the COVID-19 imposed hiatus in 2020. The conference was first held in 2013.

Themed Building the Future, NECLive8 explored actionable steps and solutions proffered by some of Nigeria’s most brilliant professionals and accomplished entertainment industry stakeholders.

The line-up of speakers included Founder, Future Africa, Iyin Aboyeji; Nollywood superstar, Dakore Egbuson-Akande; entrepreneur and founder, Temple Management Company, Idris Olorunnimbe; accomplished entertainers, Basketmouth and Bovi; Big Cabal CEO, Tomiwa Aladekomo; and 2019 Big Brother Naija winner and businesswoman, Mercy Eke. Media personality and producer, Bolanle Olukanni, hosted the conference.

The session began with the broadcast of the NECLive TV special, a scripted 90-minute production, featuring a seven-year chronicle of the most powerful speakers and memorable moments from the NECLive stage. The special was followed by an intense two-hour conference where the speakers shared detailed insights into various opportunities that can be exploited by the Nigerian entertainment industry, the infrastructure that would be required to build the industry and how young creative Nigerians can play an intrinsic role in that future.

At its core, the conference addresses issues that plague and limit the actual output of creatives in the entertainment industry. Each year, it assembles the largest number of industry professionals to seek answers leveraging their experiences to solve industry problems.

“Nigeria’s entertainment industry is full of energetic, enterprising and creative young people who are often the direct victims of poor governance, lack of opportunities and social injustice. They have also recently emerged as the leaders of a new national movement and drivers of an ongoing conversation about the future of our country. Our goal with NECLive8 is to provide the tools, resources and connections that will further drive the change and innovation that the industry is yearning for,” Femi Falodun, CEO, ID Africa mentioned.

NECLive8 is organised by ID Africa in partnership with Huce Valeris, AV Edge, 7even Interactive, HipTV, Megalectrics, EDS, Big Cabal Media, Livespot, and BHM, with sponsorship support from Nigerian Breweries and MultiChoice.

For over 7 years, NECLive has attracted more than 12,000 physical participants and 20 million viewers and audiences on television and digital. Nigerian Entertainment Conference (often stylised as NECLive), with the hashtag #NECLive is an umbrella conference for the entertainment industry in Nigeria, which continually discusses the trajectory of the sector and shapes the discourse and practices surrounding it.