Through the platform provided by the British Council in partnership with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy (FMACTCE) and other key stakeholders, Nigerian youth are enabled to showcase their talents in various forms, visual and performing arts, film, music, fashion design, among other forms of creativity.

The Creative Economy Week is a week-long event aimed at highlighting the immense potential of Nigeria’s youth within the creative and cultural industries.

Some activities of the week are also taking place in Port Harcourt, Kano, Abuja, Lagos, and London.

Speaking on the activities in Enugu, Harry Kesiena, the head of Arts at the British Council Nigeria, said:

“For us at the British Council, the Creative Economy Week Nigeria is a platform created to spotlight Nigeria’s creative and cultural industries, share opportunities, and present the United Kingdom’s expertise in the Nigerian creative sector while giving young creatives a platform to grow.

“There were numerous highlights and a multitude of outcomes from Enugu. More importantly, activities in Enugu were made possible through a partnership with the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), led by Obi Asika, the director-general. Enugu was of particular interest to us because of the number of young people based in the state. It is one of the focus states in eastern Nigeria,” Kesiena explained.

According to Harry Kesiena, the Creative Economy Week Nigeria 2025 is a significant leap from 2023, when it started.

It is expected to showcase the brilliance of Nigerian creatives both in Nigeria and globally and the potential that the Nigerian creative sector has to offer the world.

The Culture and Creative Economy Summit in Enugu, held on September 9, 2025, brought together various Commissioners of Arts and Culture from different states.

The summit allowed the British Council to present the activities of the Creative Economy Week to representatives from various states in Nigeria.

The occasion enabled the British Council to share its model of partnerships, demonstrate how it is building the capacity of young people in Nigeria, and identify areas for collaboration with these states.

The Creative Economy Week in Enugu was packed with opportunities for young people and served as an avenue for stakeholders in the creative industries to gain insights into how to foster the growth of the sector.

Enabling Nigeria gain global competitiveness in the creative industry, CCTF is designed to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Web3, and blockchain across 49 creative sectors, including music, film, fashion, gaming, and digital content, as part of a plan to grow the creative economy beyond $25 billion by 2025.

NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika, called the launch a defining moment. “The launch of the CCTF is a groundbreaking initiative to place Nigeria at the forefront of the global stage, where culture meets code,” he said, adding that the council will provide creators with the platforms, tools, and market access needed to compete internationally.

In its initial phase, the CCTF will establish the National Creative-Tech Framework and Roadmap (2025–2030), aligning with the National AI Strategy, the Digital Economy Policy (2020–2030), and NCAC-led initiatives such as Discover Naija.

“The council will take memoranda from stakeholders and collaborate closely with NCAC sister agencies in the culture and tourism sector,” Asika said. He also stressed the importance of creating a digital environment where Nigerian art, stories, and music are “protected, monetised, and celebrated globally.”

To achieve this, the council will work with global partners including the British Council, UNESCO, Google, Meta, Netflix, the African Development Bank, the European Union, and the University for the Creative Arts UK. These partnerships are expected to drive investment, technical expertise, and international exposure for Nigerian creatives.

The inaugural council is chaired by Charles Emembolu of TechQuest and includes industry leaders such as photographer and director Misan Harriman; AI storytelling specialist Malik Afegbua; AR/VR expert Judith Okonkwo of Imisi 3D; intellectual property lawyer Sandra Oyewole; music executive Bizzle Oshikoya; and Kemi Awodein, Managing Director of Chapel Hill Denham.

With the CCTF, the NCAC is aiming to merge cultural heritage with cutting-edge technology, creating new jobs, drawing investment, and placing Nigeria’s creative sector at the centre of global innovation.

He spoke at the Omniverse Summit, held at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos.

Inuwa highlighted the necessity of shared goals, resources, and knowledge to make a lasting impact on Nigeria’s digital future.

“Our vision for Nigeria is to digitally empower the nation by thriving on innovation and fostering inclusive economic growth through technology,” Inuwa stated.

While discussing the pillars in the Strategic Road-map and Action Plan (2024-2027) SRAP 2.0, Inuwa stressed the importance of collaboration  among the stakeholders.

According to the NITDA Director-General, the road-map focuses on eight strategic pillars, targeted at accelerating digital transformation of all critical sectors of the economy as directed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He maintained that all the pillars in the SRAP 2.0 resonate with the strategic pillars of  Ministry of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy blueprint tagged “Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency” which are Knowledge, Policy, Infrastructure, Innovation, entrepreneurship, and Capital, and Trade.

He revealed that the first pillar, fostering digital literacy and cultivating talent has an ambitious goal of achieving 70% digital literacy by 2027 through the implementation of National Digital Literacy Framework as well as developing technical talents which is being implemented through one of the Ministry’s initiatives “the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT)”, designed to address the impending global talent deficit and position Nigeria as a leader in technological expertise.

Inuwa noted that the second pillar is to build a robust technology research system, aimed at putting Nigeria’s at the 25 percentile in global ranking  in research in six key areas of AI, IoT, Robotics, Additive Manufacturing, blockchain and UAVs.

The third pillar emphasises the need to strengthen policy implementation and legal framework, with all ecosystem stakeholders contributing to achieving national goals.

He said,

“Promoting inclusive access to digital infrastructure and services forms the fourth pillar which aims at connecting the unconnected by investing in learning centers and innovation hubs across the country.”

“Strengthening Cybersecurity and enhancing digital trust is the fifth pillar. This addresses the importance of instilling confidence in digital platforms for its users,” he said.

He identified the sixth pillar as focusing on plans to nurture an innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem, which will promote synergy in industry and an enabling platform for digital transformation.

“While the seventh pillar is to forge strategic partnerships, and collaborations with external stakeholders as evident with the active partnership NITDA is building with the Omniverse platform, the eight and last pillar of the SRAP is directed to cultivate a vibrant organizational culture and agile workforce within NITDA”. he added.

“We believe that by working together, we can transform Nigeria into a global digital powerhouse,” Inuwa declared.

He subsequently invited stakeholders to download the soft copy of the road-map, providing a QR code for easy access, and encouraged feedback to refine the document for collective success.

Inuwa assured the commitment of the government to create enabling policies for citizens to thrive.

According to him,

“The aim is to position Nigeria among the top 25 in artificial intelligence, IoT, UAV, robotics, Blockchain, and additive manufacturing, propelling the nation into a prominent role in the global digital economy.”

The Omniverse Summit is targeted at driving the digital economy on the continent. The summit explores the narratives about the Africa and Africans, with a focus on how to regain control of these narratives to re-frame the future of our economies, societies, and geopolitics.

Obi Asika, the convener of the Omniverse Summit along with his team members, Charles  Emembolu, Dr. Thwueba and Isioma  Udeozo stated passionately during a panel session tagged “Why Omniverse? Explained that the Omniverse is a collaborative platform, which is designed to bring people together. They mentioned that one of the core objectives of the program was to bring different segments of the ecosystem like the academia, tech, startups, gaming people, music industry, film industry, television industry, the arts and arts culture among others together.

In their submission, they noted that the move is towards creating a platform for anyone to have a clear understanding into what is happening in Nigeria, Africa, and the  world.

Mr. Will Stevens, the U.S Consul General, in his address affirmed that the dynamic digital innovation ecosystem in Nigeria has led to the creation of this crucial platform, emphasizing the nation’s role as Africa’s largest economy and democracy.

Mr. Williams stressed a paradigm shift in collaboration, moving from discussing what can be done for Africa to what can be achieved together. He added that the focus is to ensuring African nations have a significant voice in global policy discussions, particularly addressing shared challenges like climate change, food insecurity, and global pandemics.

He called for a permanent African representation in the UN Security Council underlines the need for African solutions to global problems, emphasizing collaboration on a worldwide scale.

He noted that Nigeria, as a key player in driving innovation, faces challenges such as safeguarding intellectual property and addressing exchange rate risks noting that, “the partnership between the U.S. and African tech startups is substantial, with around 60% of venture capital in Nigeria originating from the United States.”

“However, there is an expressed need to protect intellectual property locally and create laws to support startups, ensuring innovators can safeguard their creations within the country. The imperative is to foster collaboration that goes beyond geographical boundaries and promotes a collective effort to tackle shared global challenges,” he concluded.