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Hypefest Hong Kong 2024: An Unforgettable Weekend of Music, Art, and Community

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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.

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“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.

Website: hypebeast.com
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.

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

Economy

AfDB to Give Nigerian SMEs $50m Loan Through BoI

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SMEs

By Adedapo Adesanya 

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) through its Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) programme has pledged support towards a new $50 million financing agreement to provide financial and business support to women-led enterprises in Nigeria.

The African Guarantee Fund, which implements the AFAWA Guarantee for Growth programme, and the Bank of Industry (BoI) signed the $50 million loan portfolio guarantee framework at the Africa Investment Forum in Rabat recently.

Through the AfDB AFAWA has approved more than $2.4 billion in lending for Africa’s women-led small and medium enterprises, as well as partnered with 185 financial institutions responsible for disbursing the funds across 44 African countries.

The initiative has unlocked financing for more than 18,600 women-led small and medium enterprises. AFAWA is supported by the African Development Bank’s partners and donors: the Women’s Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), G7 participating countries Canada, France, Germany and Italy as well as the Netherlands and Sweden.

The transaction will be phased out in three tranches over ten years and will significantly scale up lending from the BoI to small and medium enterprises in the country.

The new deal will support women-led businesses via the AFAWA Guarantee for Growth programme, which makes financing available for women entrepreneurs through de-risking and technical assistance measures.

“This strategic partnership illustrates the commitment of the African Development Bank, especially the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa initiative, to empower women entrepreneurs and foster economic growth in Nigeria,” Mrs Beth Dunford, African Development Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, told signing ceremony attendees.

“This is not just a financial transaction aimed at supporting and catalysing the growth of small and medium enterprises in Nigeria – it is a beacon of hope and progress for African businesses, particularly for those led and owned by women,” she added.

The partnership includes a comprehensive risk-sharing mechanism that focuses on supporting micro, small and medium enterprises, women-owned enterprises and “green businesses” that promote environmental sustainability and gender equity.

African Guarantee Fund Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Jules Ngankam said, “This transaction with the leading development finance institution in Nigeria is a great milestone that will significantly impact Nigeria’s economy by unlocking up to $100 million in financing for small and medium enterprises. African Guarantee Fund will also provide tailored guarantees and technical assistance towards the special small and medium enterprise products offered by Bank of Industry that target women, youth and green businesses.”

“Bank of Industry is excited to leverage the guarantee framework of the African Guarantee Fund in promoting sustainable growth, gender equity, innovation and advancing more credit to small and medium enterprises in Nigeria in line with [Nigeria] President Bola Tinubu’s government’s Renewed Hope agenda,” said Mr Olasupo Olusi, Bank of Industry’s Managing Director and CEO.

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Economy

FX Speculators Count Losses as Naira Appreciation Exceeds Expectations

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FX Speculators

By Adedapo Adesanya

Speculators in the Nigerian foreign exchange (forex) market are counting losses with the Naira appreciating heavily against the greenback across several windows in the last few days.

The development has been tied to the new foreign exchange framework introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently as well as inflows from Nigerians living in the diaspora who are returning to the country for the festive season.

The apex bank had on Monday, December 2, launched the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS), an electronic platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.

In a circular announcing the EFEMS platform, the apex bank explained that it facilitates spot foreign exchange transactions between the Naira and the US Dollar.

The platform, operated through Bloomberg’s BMatch system, requires a minimum trade value of $100,000, with incremental trade sizes of $50,000.

CBN also stated that the platform automatically matches buy and sell orders, promoting fairness and efficiency in FX trading.

The EFEMS system allows authorized dealers, including commercial banks, to place buy and sell orders in real time.

Transactions are automatically matched based on predetermined rules, ensuring swift execution and real-time visibility for market participants and regulators.

This has started bearing fruits with early signals indicating that speculators holding foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar, have seen the value of their money drastically drop due to the appreciation of the local currency.

This is now forcing them to dump FX into the system and take the domestic currency alternative.

Business Post reports the Naira recorded a 3.3 per cent or N52.80 appreciation on the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, December 9 to close at N1,552.50/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,605.30/$1.

This is also seen in the parallel market with the local currency trading within a  low of N1,590 per Dollar to N1,630/$1 on Tuesday afternoon.

This newspaper also learned that many speculators are offloading their foreign currencies in panic for the local currency to avoid losses, which might ease the pressure, but there are fears that the demand for FX might happen after the holidays.

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Economy

Seplat to Double Oil Production With $800m Mobil Assets Acquisition

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seplat and exxonmobil

By Dipo Olowookere

Leading Nigerian energy company, Seplat Energy Plc, has disclosed that its acquisition of assets of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited is expected to more than double its crude oil production to around 120,000 barrels per day.

Business Post reports that the transaction should be sealed by Thursday, December 12, 2024, with about $800 million to be pocketed by Mobil.

In 2022, Seplat deposited $128 million to Mobil for the transactions and will give the company the balance of $672 million after obtaining the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This will be paid from available cash and debt facilities, with no new equity issuance required.

In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday, Seplat said the acquisition would provide a significant opportunity to further drive its growth and profitability, whilst contributing significantly to the Nigerian economy.

It based this projection on the fact that Mobil’s assets are of proven quality, located in one of the world’s leading hydrocarbon basins.

Seplat, which also trades its shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), said the assets it intends to take over from Mobil include OML 67, 68, 70 and 104.

It stated that ERC Equipoise (ERCE) prepared an independent Competent Person’s Report (CPR) on these assets and certified that, as of June 30, 2024, Mobil had 409 mmboe of 2P oil and gas reserves, after having produced 99 mmboe since January 1, 2021.

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