Creative Industry

Emirates Airline to Participate in Africa Tourism, Creative Economy Expo

Published

1 year ago

August 27, 2025

The United Arab Emirates, UAE has confirmed the participation of Emirates Airline in the upcoming Africa Tourism and Creative Economy Expo, (AFTCREE) scheduled to hold in Abuja from Nov. 24th to 25th.
The New Agency of Nigeria reports that the Expo is being organised by Afrocultour in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Arts Culture Tourism and Creative Economy.

In a confirmation letter sent to the Chief Executive Officer, (CEO), Aftocultour Mr, Chuks Akamadu, in Abuja on Tuesday, the Embassy extended its warm regards and appreciation for the invitation.

NAN reports that the Expo was endorsed by the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The participation of Emirates Airline underscores the UAE’s commitment to strengthening ties with Nigeria and the African continent, particularly in the areas of tourism, trade, and creative enterprise.

As one of the world’s leading carriers, Emirates’ involvement in the Expo reflects its dedication to promoting connectivity, innovation, and economic growth.

It is hoped that the Expo would present a unique opportunity for UAE’s reaffirmation of her continued partnership with Nigeria and indeed the entire African continent in advancing initiatives for prosperity .

The upcoming Expo aims, among other things, to urge African countries to commit to significant increase in their tourism and creative economy annual budgetary allocations and inaugurate “Agenda 2030”.

The agenda is believed to aspire to jerk up Africa’s contribution to global trade from less than three percent to at least 10 percent.

As well as increasing the continent’s five percent share of the $11 trillion global tourism revenue to at least 20 percent by the year 2030.

This, the organisers believe, can be achieved through mainstreaming tourism, the cultural industry and entertainment into the service sector and instituting a peer review mechanism for African countries.

This is aimed at comparing notes bilaterally and multilaterally on emerging tourism and creative industry trends within the precincts of mutual profit. NAN

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Creative Industry

FG Backs MyCityApp Launch of 100-Day Tourism Calendar to Drive $100bn Economic Growth

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind the launch of MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform designed to aggregate festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences into a single digital calendar.

The platform, which flags off the 100-Day Tourism Calendar, was unveiled on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the initiative targeting Nigeria’s estimated $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Media and Publicity Adviser to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the ministry said the conference was aimed at mobilising public and private stakeholders to transform the September-to-December festive period into jobs, investment and economic growth.

Speaking at the unveiling, the Minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said millions of visitors travel across Nigeria every year to celebrate, reconnect and experience the country’s diverse culture, stressing that the festive season could be deliberately organised and monetised to strengthen tourism’s contribution to the economy.

“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar,” Musawa said.

She noted that every visitor generates economic activity across several sectors, including aviation, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans and local communities.

The Minister commended MyCityApp Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Ifeoma Chukwu, for her vision and commitment to the initiative.

She urged state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to list their festivals, concerts, exhibitions, food experiences, cultural celebrations, fashion and sporting events on the national calendar.

Musawa said the platform would enable Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors to discover tourism and entertainment experiences across the country from a single, credible source.

Earlier, Chukwu said Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and creative sector provided enormous opportunities for tourism-driven economic growth.

She cited the contributions of tourism to the economies of countries such as Spain, France and the United States, arguing that Nigeria could equally build a $100 billion tourism economy.

Also present were Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke; NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika; National Gallery of Art Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi; ARCON Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo; and MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr Karl Toriola.

MyLagosApp and MyCityApp will serve as the digital engines of the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to audiences in Nigeria and the diaspora.

Stakeholders were encouraged to upload their events on MyCityApp to participate in the national tourism calendar urging them to upload events on http://www.MyCityApp.io.

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