Business Post Contributor
In a captivating dialogue at the annual conference tagged Art of Technology Lagos 5.0, held at Landmark Event Centre Lagos, on Thursday, 7 December 2023, Opeoluwa Filani, General Manager, Showmax Nigeria, took the stage to offer insights into the rapidly evolving landscape of Africa’s creative economy. The annual tech conference, curated by the Eko Innovation Centre and sponsored by the Lagos State Government, explored the symbiotic relationship between creativity and technology.
As the lead discussant of the first plenary session themed Monetization of the Creative Economy Leveraging Technology, Filani noted that the combination of creativity and technology presents a vision of a digital Lagos that can propel the metropolis to new heights. For this to be achieved, creators must leverage digital tools, platforms, and innovative business models to unlock diverse revenue streams, connect with global audiences, and transform their passion into sustainable and profitable ventures.
According to him, some of the ways to achieve this include digital distribution of content creation, building licensing & collaborative platforms, organising visual events & experiences and adopting NFTs & blockchain technologies — among others.
Filani also addressed the need to cater for the unique challenges of the African market in the face of technological advancements, citing Showmax’s Bandwidth Capping feature as an example.
“The Bandwidth Capping feature on Showmax is a valuable technological resource that influences Africa’s creative space. The feature offers the lowest data streaming option, accompanied by the convenience of offline viewing – a bid to cushion the effects of the sporadic availability of internet and power supply in certain regions”, he said.
He also touched on the need to create a favourable perception of Lagos City. In his words, “In a global digitally competitive world, Lagos is competing with many other African global cities. A digital world makes Information critical to how a city is perceived.”
Using Kigali and Cape Town as examples, he highlighted how their immediate digital impressions highlighted favourable attributes while that of Lagos was a mixed bag. Therefore, he advocated for a digital clean-up to shape public perception and draw in business opportunities.
Victor Afolabi, Curator of the Art of Technology Lagos added that technology, in its multifaceted forms, serves as a toolbox for creators and innovators, offering new mediums, tools, platforms, and methods for expression and problem-solving.
“The creative economy sector of Lagos State is driven by a highly skilled and innovative workforce using technology to solve multifaceted problems with art, which significantly impacts the state’s economy; hence, the need to focus on the creative economy and a digital Lagos”, Afolabi opined.
Among the other illustrious panellists at the event were Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Iquo Ukoh, CEO of Entod Marketing Limited; David Ponte, Co-founder & CMO of Audiomack; Efe Omorogbe, Principal Consultant at BuckWyld Media Network Ltd.; Obi Asika, Convener of The Omniverse; and Tunbosun Alake, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Innovation and Technology.
In addition to the insightful panel discussions, the annual conference also fostered collaborative networking and engagement with industry stakeholders and experts, as well as the empowerment of creatives by equipping them with tools to navigate the evolving landscape.
