The historic and massive Burna Boy show ‘Lagos Loves Damini’ which took place on the 1st of January 2023 has raised the bar for outdoor entertainment in Nigeria. In a meeting held at the British Deputy High Commission in Lagos on the 5th of January, Mr. Kaycee Kennedy who is the main promoter of the show listed the positives.
The show was the first African Show listed on Burna Boy official website + ticketing; Biggest Outdoor Music Concert – over 30,000 audience; Biggest Car parking in an event – over 11,000 cars; Pioneer Single Source Online Ticketing via Wallet.
Other major observations included the fact that there were no reported casualties, theft, sexual assault or sexual harassment.
However, despite the positives, the organizers acknowledged that there were some challenges and learning points. In a bid to address the main challenges and negatives encountered at ‘Lagos Loves Damini’ show, the organizers, Creative Economy Catalyst Limited, visited the British Deputy High Commission at Walter Carrington Crescent to meet with the UK Department for International Trade to discuss possible collaboration for future events.
The issue of inadequate power supply and the power surge that led to an outage that took off a good number of equipment was discussed extensively. Secondly the need to seek logistics support in areas such as infrastructure which includes equipment hire, standardization of such equipment in a bid to meet minimum international standards, vendor sourcing and management was also looked at. Thirdly is support for waste management after the concerts and other such large events. It was agreed that an adequate waste recycling structure is very critical post-concert as a way of preserving the environment and keeping to acclaimed international bio disposal and environmental standards.
Chim Chalemera, Country Director, UK Department for International Trade, in her contribution was happy to provide the necessary support including match-making and introduction to relevant UK companies to partner with Creative Economy Catalyst Limited, the Concert Promoters, to ensure future concerts are delivered to international standards.
Incidentally, in November 2022, the UK Department for International Trade, facilitated a trade mission for 18 UK companies participating in £20m Round 10 Energy Catalyst for sustainable energy. They visited Eko Energy City, the venue of “Lagos Loves Damini” show and were hosted by Creative Economy Catalyst Limited.
Accordingly, this follow-up visit to the British Deputy High Commission office to meet with the UK Department of International Trade is geared towards developing a partnership between Creative Economy Catalyst and the Department for International Trade just before the next round of international shows and concerts slated for 2023 at Eko Energy City, Lagos.
Chim Chalemera said about the partnership that “the UK is very happy to support the Creative Economy Catalyst team as part of our extensive engagement with the Nigerian Creatives Industry. The UK has much to offer in terms of expertise when it comes to the delivery of large-scale entertainment events such as concerts and festivals and we look forward to seeing how this expertise can be applied for future events.”
