The Creative Economy Week 2025 is a week-long programme aimed at harnessing and nurturing the abundant creativity in Nigeria while repositioning the creative industry as a driver of national economic growth.

Hannatu Musa Musawa, minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism & Creative Economy, who delivered a keynote address at the event in Lagos, emphasised the significant potential of United Kingdom-Nigeria partnerships in enhancing the creative economy, and emphasised that the collaboration will accelerate capacity building and skills exchange to cultivate a thriving creative industry in Nigeria.

“The creative industry in the United Kingdom is very developed. We believe we can also have a thriving creative industry. The government has stepped in to facilitate this essential handshake. With collaboration with the United Kingdom, Nigeria’s creative sector will further thrive. And beyond that, there are a lot of skills.”

In her remarks, the minister noted that raw talent and creativity are abundant in Nigeria, while noting that the collaboration will foster mutual benefits through training, festivals, and exchanges.

The minister concluded, “With the right training and support, Nigeria’s creative sector can not only thrive but also contribute significantly to job creation and economic development.”

Creative Economy Week Nigeria 2025 spanned across five Nigerian cities: Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Enugu, and it will culminate in a landmark London showcase on 11 October. The initiative is designed to identify, nurture talents and creativity in Nigeria. It brought together artists, creative entrepreneurs, cultural hubs, industry leaders, policymakers, investors, and international partners.

The event series showcases the power of creativity and culture as catalysts for inclusive economic growth, youth empowerment, and global connection while spotlighting diaspora voices, strengthening international collaboration, and forging new opportunities for global creative exchange.

During the Week, engaging sessions took place in Lagos. These included discussions on the Women in Film Conference, the Africa Film Finance Forum (AFFF), and presentations focusing on unlocking Nigeria’s Creative Tech and Digital Storytelling Frontiers. Additionally, topics such as the expanding role of music in job creation and market reach were explored, alongside a fireside chat addressing crucial steps for enhancing Nigeria’s creative industry.

In addition, masterclass sessions were conducted on various subjects including, the role of Intellectual Property (IP) in the film industry, SME creative entrepreneurship, and practice management for the film sector.

These discussions are pivotal in promoting professionalism and growth within the industry, further driving socio-economic growth and creating job opportunities.

Operating in an environment that’s structurally unkind, SMEs need to know they can stay connected so they can consistently deliver high-level services to their growing customer base, both locally and abroad.

This need has driven the growth of the South African fibre to the business (FTTB) market which reached 257,000 connected and active endpoints by December 2024, up from 243,000 in September 2023.

It’s a market segment anticipated to grow at a 5.7% compound annual growth rate over the next five years, according to Africa Analysis, thanks to the introduction of more cost-effective products and services provided by a wider variety of service providers.

But uptake is not without its obstacles.

Many SMEs are still struggling to access reliable FTTB services due to a mix of cost, infrastructure availability and uncertainty about the correct package for their needs.

Economic pressures, including currency volatility, rising interest rates and increased power and logistics costs, are forcing SMEs to reassess every operational expense.

So, while connectivity remains a priority, it has to equally deliver both value and stability to warrant the cost that comes with FTTB.

Companies want consistency and uptime, not vague SLAs and best effort response times – when fibre goes down, the business goes down.

SMEs need to trust that their ISP and network provider will keep them online and informed. With so much of the business relying on cloud tools, real-time communication and remote access, downtime costs money and companies are no longer willing to accept generic excuses or outsourced accountability.

An ISP and network operator must be proactive, provide clear updates and ensure the fastest possible resolution timelines, and the FTTB service needs to hold up under pressure when the data requirement is at its peak, like month-end for a retail store in a shopping centre.

This translates to using a service provider that has a proven uptime rate, even through loadshedding, and that has invested in power redundancy and network failovers, but also in the customer experience and service value it offers.

However, trust also comes from transparency. The reality of operating in the South African environment is that there are cable thefts, loadshedding, battery issues and infrastructure damages that take place outside of the service provider’s control.

Providers need to offer real-time updates that give SMEs visibility into the problem and offer clear insights into timelines and downtime.

When companies know how long a problem will last, they are better equipped to manage downtime and customers.

Unfortunately, there’s a perception in the market that SMEs are often given less favourable SLAs compared to larger companies and that more affordable options are unreliable and lack transparency.

For many, FTTB is a frustrating experience with unaffordable and unflexible options that aren’t fit for purpose and are complicated to understand and manage.

It’s a disconnect that points to a bigger issue: fibre offerings that aren’t designed around real business needs.

Smaller companies don’t have the time to decode contention ratios or navigate vague product tiers – they want a provider that can match their requirements with the right service, explain what they’re getting and deliver what’s promised.

This means clear pricing, defined performance expectations and upgrade paths that don’t involve major disruptions.

There’s also the issue of support. SMEs often don’t have dedicated IT teams so they rely on their providers to troubleshoot, escalate and resolve problems quickly.

A missed update or a long ticket queue can damage client relationships and internal operations – companies just want support that’s easy to access and that provides accurate updates without lengthy delays.

Some providers are addressing this gap. Frogfoot, for example, enables ISPs to offer tailored options across the SME and enterprise spectrum such as cost-effective asymmetrical connections for smaller teams, and dedicated, SLA-backed fibre for high-demand environments.

More importantly, these solutions are built with scalability and clarity in mind so companies of all sizes gain control over their connectivity without being locked into contracts they can’t grow out of.

FTTB providers are fighting for more than market share, they’re fighting for SME trust and loyalty. If they can deliver a range of business-aligned products, transparency, open-access infrastructure, competitive costs, and uptime guarantees, then companies will invest in their services and stay with them as they grow.

Reliability, transparency and customer support will define who leads in the next five years.

In collaboration with SME 100 Africa, the two-day training, which was held in Lagos, is part of AXA’s lined-up programmes to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

In addition to the series of women empowerment Initiatives, AXA Mansard has been training female SMEs over the past few years as part of its plan to Increase financial and digital literacy amongst female-owned SMEs In Nigeria.

According to Olusesan Ogunyooye, the head of Marketing AXA Mansard, the training aims to empower female SME owners with skills to improve business output and position them for the increasing economic opportunities available in an increasingly digital marketplace.

Ogunyooye noted that the move is in line with AXA Mansard’s sustainability agenda, explaining that the company is convinced that support for women through its inclusive protection programmes is pivotal to its purpose of acting for human progress by protecting what matters and its mission of moving from being a payer to a partner.

He furthered that focusing on digital skills is important because the company realizes the importance of digital skills to the growth of the SME sector in Nigeria and wants to ensure that women are empowered enough to be a consequential part of that growth.

“It’s almost trite to say that SMEs are the engine for economic growth, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where over 45 million adults are business owners. What needs to be continually discussed is how Nigeria is going to unlock that potential for economic development and how much of that potential will be unlocked by women and for women.”

”For us at AXA Mansard, we are aware that digital will play a major role in unlocking these current opportunities and Nigeria’s economic future. So, to ensure that women are equally represented in unlocking these future potentials, that’s why we have collaborated with SME 100 Africa to support them in developing the required skills”.

“Our choice of digital and financial literacy skills is deliberate. We understand the power of the duo. We understand that helping these SMEs with the skills to attract more customers will be a faster means to empower them. We see that they have amazing products and services, but they need to understand how to attract value for themselves by attracting the right customers, and you will agree with me that virtually all customer segments are online in one way or another today. So, if we can empower them with digital business skills, we would have helped them with the heavy lifting of trying to find and attract customers”. Ogunyooye explained.

AXA Mansard believes that for the world to truly experience progress, there must be an equitable distribution of creation and access to opportunities for men and women. This quest for balance informed the SHE for Shield initiative, a women-centred inclusive protection programme of AXA Mansard.

SHE for Shield is a group of initiatives designed for the Nigerian woman. The goal is to see them grow, add value, and help them mitigate risks every step.

According to the company, research has found that access to health care is one of the most important things to Nigerian women, regardless of their economic segment. They desire to be financially independent, secure, and respected in the community.

The Hack seeks to create a platform to support and promote entrepreneurs in the SME space. It is a one-day physical event and will hold on Friday, June 17th, at The Zone Tech Gbagada, Lagos, by 10 am. 

It is a business and networking mentorship program facilitated by a business expert who will share business ideas with participants and groom them to scale their businesses. 

The Hack aims to solve specific challenges that entrepreneurs face, with a broad focus on the limitless possibilities in the SME sector. 

The seminar will help entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and overcome challenges.

Commenting on the initiative, Director of Marketing Communications, 9mobile, Saidat Lawal-Mohammed said it was another of its interventions in developing the SME space by empowering entrepreneurs with knowledge and skills.

 “There are lots of entrepreneurs managing small and medium enterprises in the country, and we want to support them by providing a platform for those who are eager to grow their businesses to network, and learn strategies and hacks that they can apply to their daily hustle and convert to sales,” she said.

Mohammed added that as an enabler of individuals and enterprises, 9mobile remains committed to entrepreneurs, start-ups and MSMEs, and would not relent in supporting their dreams and aspirations.

“We are excited about kicking off the first edition of the Hack because we know that there are a lot of talented entrepreneurs in Nigeria. This platform will help them unleash their capabilities and potentials,” she said. 

The Hack is open to all network subscribers who have a registered business with CAC and are between 18 – 45 years. Interested participants can register here.