Economy
Hypefest Hong Kong 2024: An Unforgettable Weekend of Music, Art, and Community
Hong Kong’s first two-day outdoor music and cultural festival hosted by Hypebeast, featured 24 musical acts alongside a multitude of brand activations, art installations and interactive experiences.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 December 2024 – Hypebeast, the leading global platform for contemporary culture and lifestyle, concluded Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 on November 9-10. Financially supported by the Mega Arts and Cultural Events (Mega ACE) Fund under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and supported by iMe Entertainment Group, Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 marked Hypebeast’s largest event in Hong Kong to date. Despite the impact of Typhoon Signal No. 3 and rain, the 2-day weekend event attracted over 28,000 festival-goers gathering at the Central Harbourfront Event Space – the city’s largest outdoor venue – to soak in the spectrum of contemporary and diversified cultures that Hypebeast had to offer.
“Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 is the largest initiative we’ve ever done in Hong Kong. We are excited to welcome all visitors from around the world to celebrate fashion, art, music, culture, and community over one amazing weekend. At Hypebeast, our mission is simple – to bring people together in meaningful ways. We are here to create authentic experiences that inspire everyone. And most importantly, we are here to give everyone an opportunity to express their creativity, passions, and dreams. Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 is truly the perfect venue to make this all happen,” said Mr. Kevin Ma, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Hypebeast Group.
“We are thrilled to support Hypefest Hong Kong 2024, a pivotal event that aligns perfectly with our vision for growth. Our commitment to expanding regional showcases, including music festivals, reflects our dedication to fostering vibrant cultural experiences. Together with Hypebeast, we aim to create unforgettable moments that celebrate creativity and community,” stated Mr. Brian Chow, Chief Executive Officer of the iMe Entertainment Group.
Over the course of the two-day event, Hypefest Hong Kong hosted 24 musical acts headlined by internationally recognized South Korean-born DJ Peggy Gou on the first day, and French electronic music duo, JUSTICE, who concluded the second day of the festival. Apart from the closing performances by the headliners, the music stage showcased a diverse combination of genres that featured a carefully-curated mix of international and regional performers such as ADOY, Awich, ONE OR EIGHT, Rich The Kid, sunkis and more.
In addition to the live performances, the festival was jam-packed with unprecedented and unconventional experiences. Exclusive collaborations stood out as a major highlight with limited edition “Sun Bleach” items with Jiyong Kim, PIET x Oakley and Prodip Leung collaborations, Wing Shya’s capsule, BE@RBRICK Audio’s Hypefest-exclusive speaker and music line-up merch by Peggy Gou’s PEGGY GOODS, as well as JUSTICE available at the flea market.
The festival was nothing short of things to see and do, with Coin Parking Delivery’s larger-than-life inflatable art installation, SIMON’s live-art painting, ASICS SportStyle’ pop-up experience where guests were welcomed with an immersive digital installation, Timberland’s “TIMBS it YOURSELF” customization workshop with Hypefest-exclusive shoe accessories, Mercedes-Benz’ G-Class display and more. Brand pop-ups featuring 432hz, LeeeeeeToy, PabePabe, Raw Emotions, Ballaholic and COSTS were reimagined through interactive carnival games, keeping festival-goers entertained and inspired throughout the weekend. Additionally, the majority of limited-edition collaborative products, including JUSTICE’s T-shirts, Hypefest-exclusive PEGGY GOODS collection by Peggy Gou, and the LABUBU figure created by Kasing Lung in collaboration with 432hz, quickly sold out within two days.
The food village also impressed the visitors with tantalising treats exclusively available at Hypefest Hong Kong 2024. Participating vendors including BaseHall presents: Draftland, Bengal Brothers, Devil’s Tea, Dionysus & Loong, Honbo, Jeonpo Meat Shop, Snack Baby and SONNY’s, who all presented their signature dishes and exclusive menus, making sure festival-goers were replenished and energised.
Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 was made possible by the financial support from the Mega ACE Fund under the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Supported by iMe Entertainment Group, the leading entertainment company in Asia, the event offered a memorable and innovative experience to all attendees, while celebrating the vibrant fusion of cultures in Hong Kong.
For more information about Hypefest Hong Kong 2024, visit hypebeast.com and follow its social media channels for more.
Instagram:@hypebeast @hypefest
Hashtag: #hypefest #hypefesthongkong2024
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Hypebeast
Founded in 2005, Hypebeast is a leading platform for contemporary fashion and culture that highlights curated brands and emerging lifestyles through editorially-driven news and features. Its devotion to discovery has made it one of the premier online destinations for fashion and lifestyle editorial and news. Currently operating in over 15 markets, readers can stay up to date with the latest culturally-relevant news and developments on men’s fashion. For more information, visit Hypebeast.com.
About Mega Arts and Cultural Events (Mega ACE) Fund
The Mega ACE Fund set up by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau aims to attract and support international and large-scale arts and cultural events to anchor in Hong Kong. It targets mega arts and cultural events in Hong Kong organised by the private sector or non-governmental organisations, with a view to developing Hong Kong into an arts and cultural metropolis, providing opportunities for the arts and cultural sector to flourish, as well as fostering Hong Kong’s development as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange.
Project Grant
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 only, but does not otherwise take part in it. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the materials/activities (or by members of the Grantee’s team) are those of the organisers of Hypefest Hong Kong 2024 only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
About iMe Entertainment Group
iMe Entertainment Group, the current leading entertainment company in Asia. Established in 2006 as a concert promoter and artist management company, iMe has since expanded to 10 countries, organized major events in more than 50 major cities in Asia- Pacific region.
Over the past 16 years, iMe has gradually developed entertainment contents consist of concert/live events, artist management, promotion & marketing, and fan base interaction platform, as being the key business elements. iMe committed to grow its scale with producing effective strategies of developing management teams, aiming to deliver innovative and best results for all business partners.
Economy
OPEC+ Retains Nigeria’s Output Benchmark at 1.5mbpd
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s daily oil production quota will remain unchanged at 1.5 million barrels per day after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Thursday deferred the commencement of its proposed oil production cuts by a year, until the end of 2026.
The move was necessitated by weak demand and rising output by non-members of the international oil cartel.
OPEC sets a production target for its members as a way of curbing oversupply and ensuring price stability.
The alliance agreed to extend the 2 million barrels per day and the 1.65 million barrels per day of cuts until the end of 2026 from the end of 2025 respectively, according to statements issued by the group on Thursday.
However, Nigeria which has been a laggard struggled for years to meet its monthly allocation of 1.78 million barrels per day minus condensates as prescribed by the group.
The country quota was revised then downwards to 1.5 million barrels per day in 2022.
Under its formal output strategy, the broader OPEC+ coalition is now restricting its combined production to 39.725 million barrels per day until December 31, 2026, after previously only applying this quota throughout 2025.
However, eight OPEC+ members — Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria, and Oman — will now extend their 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary production decline into the first quarter, and will begin hiking production incrementally between April and September 2026.
Nigeria, unable to meet its 1.5 million barrels per day, does not belong to this exclusive group. OPEC data puts Africa’s largest oil producer numbers at 1.3 million barrels on average.
Saudi Arabia’s quota will stand at 10.47 million barrels per day; Russia’s at 9.94 million barrels per day; Iraq’s at 4.43 million barrels per day production and Algeria’s at 1 million barrels per day output.
Despite these sets of production trims and ongoing conflict threatening the hydrocarbon-rich Middle Eastern region, global oil prices have remained subdued for the better part of this year, under pressure from a tepid demand outlook.
Brent crude, which Nigeria leverages its headline crude against, is currently trading at $72 per barrel.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has set an ambitious 2025 production target of 2.06 million barrels per day, inclusive of condensates, as outlined in the draft 2025 appropriation bill of N48.7 trillion. The bill also sets a $77 per barrel benchmark to fund the budget.
Economy
LCCI Predicts 4% GDP Growth For 2024 Amid Economic Challenges
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) foresees Nigeria’s economy closing the current year in positive growth up to 4 per cent.
This was disclosed by the president of the chamber, Mr Gabriel Idahosa, at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday in Lagos.
The LCCI forecast builds up on recent gross domestic product (GDP) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which points out that Nigeria’s economy grew 3.46 per cent in the third quarter of 2024.
The body said achieving faster recovery requires the fiscal and monetary sides of the economy to promote policies that would encourage private capital flows to the economy.
According to him, fiscal and monetary authorities need to develop a medium-term growth plan anchored on boosting local production, supporting ease of doing business and attracting private investment.
Mr Idahosa said the plan should also focus on developing infrastructure, business-friendly regulatory policies, economic diversification, and employment generation.
“Nigeria is presently confronted with a myriad of challenges including sustained double-digit inflation, a steadily rising debt profile, revenue mobilisation challenges and others.
“We have advocated for a well-coordinated synergy between the fiscal and monetary authorities in engagement with the private sector to navigate the uncertain economic terrain.
“We will continue to engage with government in creating an enabling business environment where the private sector is empowered to grow, create jobs and generate revenue for the government,” he said.
Addressing some economic indices, the LCCI president noted that the private sector was currently plagued with increased borrowing costs and a pressured foreign exchange market.
He said recent hikes in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) had directly translated to higher interest rates, making it more expensive for businesses to access credit for working capital, expansion, and sustainability.
He said that rate hikes alone would not curb inflation without resolving the challenges of the real sector of the economy.
Mr Idahosa added that the country needed to diversify its exports by boosting local crude refining capacity production of petrochemical products and accelerating reforms in the and gas sector.
“The chamber looks forward to the sustained implementation of naira payments for crude oil sales to the Dangote refinery and other local refineries, which started on October 1, 2024.
“We urge the government to summon the courage to be consistent with the oil and gas sector reforms and implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) fully.
“We see the long-term gains of these reforms if they are implemented under a conducive regulatory environment,” he said.
Speaking on the projected N47.9 trillion 2025 budget presented recently by President Bola Tinubu, Mr Idahosa said the key parameters and assumptions on which the budget was proposed were too optimistic in the face of some economic and social indicators.
On her part, Mrs Chinyere Almona, Director General, LCCI, urged government to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive to enhance their productivity and contribute more meaningfully to the economy.
She noted that while the year was filled with very difficult reforms, businesses should stay the course on these reforms and things would improve.
Mrs Almona urged businesses to think of alternatives to improve efficiency, attract finance and be more productive, while hoping for the next year to be better.
She also called on authorities to focus on non-oil exports to attract more foreign exchange.
“When we talk of exports, we are not just talking of exporting raw materials but processing materials to command top dollar in the export market.
“At the chamber, we are looking for ways to improve our export and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) groups to improve their capacity and productivity to export more, ” she said.
Economy
FrieslandCampina Sinks Unlisted Securities Exchange by 0.20%
By Adedapo Adesanya
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.20 per cent fall on Thursday, December 5.
The bourse, as a result, lost N2.14 billion as the market capitalisation wrapped the session at N1.056 trillion compared with the N1.058 trillion it closed in the preceding session.
Equally, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 6.13 points to settle for the session at 3,013.41 points compared with 3,019.54 points recorded on Wednesday.
During the trading day, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by N1.10 to trade at N40.36 per share versus the N41.46 per share it ended at midweek.
Yesterday, the volume of shares bought and sold by the market participants significantly decreased by 99.9 per cent to 74,381 units from the 127.5 million units traded in the preceding session.
In the same vein, the value of securities transacted by investors on Thursday shrank by 95.4 per cent to N2.7 million from N58.2 million, as the number of deals depreciated by 75 per cent to five deals from the 20 deals recorded a day earlier.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units sold for N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in third place after trading 297.3 million units worth N5.3 million.
Despite its exit from the trading platform, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
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