NECLive 2026 to champion Nigeria’s ‘home advantage’

The 11th edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference, NECLive, will focus on how Nigeria can leverage its growing domestic audience to build greater ownership, attract investment and strengthen its global creative influence.

The annual gathering of entertainment and creative industry professionals is scheduled to hold on November 12, 2026, at Alliance Française, Lagos.

Organised by BHM, ID Africa and the editorial board of Nigerian Entertainment Today, the conference will be themed, “Home Advantage: Transforming Local Demand into Global Power.”

According to the organisers, the theme will place Nigeria’s growing domestic audience at the centre of conversations about the future of the country’s creative industries.

For years, Nigeria’s creative success has largely been measured by the ability of its music, films and digital content to gain international audiences. However, NECLive 2026 will examine how the size and diversity of the local market can be converted into greater economic value and creative ownership.

The conference will also consider challenges including affordability, limited audience growth, dependence on diaspora markets and unequal access to opportunities across the creative sector.

Founder and Convener of NECLive, Ayeni Adekunle, said the country’s next opportunity was to build on the strength of its domestic market.

He said, “Nigeria has already demonstrated that its creative industries can capture the world’s attention. The next opportunity is to understand how the strength of our domestic market can help us build greater ownership, attract investment and strengthen our position globally.”

Adekunle added that the 2026 theme was intended to shift the conversation from how far Nigerian creativity could travel to what could be built from the market at home.

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“Home Advantage is about moving the conversation beyond how far our creativity can travel to what we can build from the market that exists right here. It is about ownership, investment and creating stronger systems that allow local demand to translate into sustainable power,” he said.

Since its launch in 2013, NECLive has evolved into a platform for industry dialogue, networking, innovation and policy advocacy, bringing together creative professionals, business leaders, policymakers, investors, brands and emerging talent.

The organisers said previous editions had featured more than 500 industry experts as speakers and panellists, attracted over 100,000 participants and reached audiences across more than 50 countries.

The 2026 edition is expected to examine how creative businesses can build sustainable models around domestic demand and how investment can translate into greater ownership.

Discussions will also focus on how stronger domestic ecosystems can help Nigerian creators and businesses achieve scale, negotiate from a position of strength and compete more effectively in international markets.

The conference will equally address the realities of Nigeria’s creative market, including purchasing power, audience expansion, monetisation and access to opportunities.

Through the Home Advantage theme, NECLive 2026 will bring together stakeholders from entertainment, media, technology, business and policy to discuss ways of strengthening the creative value chain, from creating and owning intellectual property to financing, distributing and exporting Nigerian content.

The organisers said the conference would continue NECLive’s tradition of providing a platform for conversations, partnerships and opportunities shaping Nigeria’s entertainment and creative economy.