On Sunday, September 15th, the Federal Ministry of arts, culture and the creative economy alongside the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and Essence Ventures, owner of Essence Festival and Essence Magazine—the premier media, commerce, tech, and experiential company for Black people—co-hosted a Sunday lunch with industry stakeholders. Obi Asika represented the Minister and the NCAC, while Essence Ventures was represented by Barkue Tubman, Global Lead on Talent and Diasporic Engagement. This lunch signifies the kick off if  a partnership between , NCAC and Essence Ventures to build a framework with Essence as global knowledge and culture partners for Origins, a core NCAC initiative and for Destination 2030, Nigeria everywhere the global platform of the ministry.

The Essence Festival of Culture, held annually in New Orleans, is the largest festival in America by per-day attendance, attracting over 500,000 attendees daily over the three-day event The lunch signals and recognizes Essence’s global intent and expansion, aiming to build a solid foundation for its global Black community and bridge the gap, with Nigeria as a focal country due to its rich talents, history, traditions, entrepreneurship, heritage, and significant percentage of the Black diaspora.

The event featured leaders from Multichoice & Africa Magic, Paramount, Trace, Popcentral, Meta, NBA Africa, Tbwa, Mefa, Playhouse Comms, Urban Vision, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, the Director General of the National Theatre, the Founder of AFRIFF, the West Africa representative for Chanel, the former of Yenwa Gallery, Simisola who voiced for Iwaju, top directors, advertisers, event producers, fashion designers, and more. It was a great afternoon in Lagos with NCAC and Essence co-hosting.We also had senior executives from the worlds of advertising, finance, and tech, as well as entrepreneurs, all discussing ways to build and bridge gaps to provide wins for all sides. The lunch was hosted at a Nigerian female-owned business the beautiful Slice social House.