Asika: Potential of Africa’s event economy is huge
Afro Nation co-founder Obi Asika discussed his ambitions for the pioneering festival during Easol’s new masterclass series.
Since launching in 2019, Afro Nation has become the world’s biggest Afrobeats festival, spawning editions in Accra (Ghana), Miami (US), Detroit (US), Portimão (Portugal) and Balneario De Carolina (Puerto Rico). A Mexican edition had also been planned for September 2020, before the pandemic intervened.
Later this year, the festival will debut in Lagos, Nigeria – a country with “huge potential” according to Asika.
“Lagos is a huge one for us,” he said, during last week’s Creators in Session. “It’s been in the making – mentally, for me – for years. I feel like it opens up the whole continent and the whole country.
“There’s so much potential there – restaurants and clubs are packed – but large-scale events have been where things fall down. I’d love to prove the point that something large-scale can be done safely and in a quality way in Lagos because I think that would open up a lot of opportunities for everybody.”
“Lagos is a huge one for [Afro Nation]… it opens up the whole continent and the whole country”
Launching in Nigeria was also a personal goal for the British-Nigerian executive, who said that big agencies lacked knowledge about the market.
“In big agencies, I’d always hear conversations about promoters and they’d treat Nigeria a lot like Dubai or Saudi Arabia now where people ask for like three times the amount of money,” he said. “It really used to affect me, what I used to hear about it because obviously the promoters are not used to dealing with us. A lot of people made mistakes or didn’t understand how certain things work or certain deals work. I want to get respect for the continent.”
Outside of Africa, Asika said his sights are set on Brazil for further expansion of the Afro Nation brand. “We went to see [a location] and we love the idea. Once we’ve done Brazil, the loop will be closed. That, to me, will be an incredibly special show.”
In just four years, Afro Nation has achieved aggressive expansion but Asika, who is also the co-founder of Event Horizon and co-head of UTA’s UK office, said it wasn’t originally his intention.
“It wasn’t about doing a festival,” he explained. “It was about proving a point to the artist. As an agent, you’re trying to prove tickets. You take acts to certain levels to prove their worth and in the end, the big money made is at the festivals.
“I used to do Afro Nation for the artists, I don’t anymore…”
“We did some shows with Wizkid [who is represented by UTA] and we’d go back and say ‘He’s worth this now’ and I’d get knocked back. We got to the O2 arena [in London] with a show and that was basically Wiz’s headline show but we put a lineup underneath to make it a bigger ticket, like a festival, for the fans. Wiz came up with the name Afro Republic and I trademarked the whole thing. The partners were me, him and his manager.
“It was such a huge amount of work for me as an individual. You’re dealing with acts from different countries, who have not worked at these sorts of venues, and need visas etc. And then after the show, Wiz and his manager fell out and decided the brand was dead. I was so pissed off.”
Asika decided to call up SMADE, who promoted Afro Republic alongside Live Nation, and enlist him to help keep the idea alive. They would call the new incarnation Afro Nation.
“Then I called up Denis Desmond [head of Live Nation UK and Ireland] and told him about it. I asked if he wanted to be involved and he said ‘Yes, I’m going to buy it now’ and he did.”
The first edition of Afro Nation took place in Portimão’s Praia da Rocha beach in 2019, followed swiftly by an instalment in Ghana later that year.
“I’d rather not do [Afro Nation] than do it on the cheap”
“I don’t know how we got through [the Ghana edition] at times,” he said. “But it happened through the grit and determination of this team. I wanted to show the potential of the continent. That is a gift and a curse because it gets us into mad situations sometimes.
“Then we did Puerto Rico [in 2022] which was another challenging situation but it was a much easier location to do than Ghana. Pre-Covid, Puerto Rico was not a place that Americans visited much. But in Covid, a lot of Americans went because it was easier to get to. At the time we picked it, it was a perfect location because they needed events like ours – they don’t anymore.”
The Puerto Rico event didn’t return in 2023 but the Afro Nation team have kept busy with 2023 editions in Portugal and the US, alongside preparations for the Lagos debut. And while the brand has stayed the same, continuing to showcase Afrobeats hip-hop, R&B, amapiano, dancehall and reggae, Asika says the intention behind it has changed.
“I used to do Afro Nation for the artists, I don’t anymore… I do it for the customers,” he said. “For me, as a proud English person and a proud African who was often a minority, seeing the people who come to our show and what it means to them to be represented is why I’m so set on the quality of the brand. I’d rather not do it than do it on the cheap. I’d rather not do it for money.”
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Obi Asika on what’s next for Afro Nation
Afro Nation co-founder Obi Asika has told IQ that further international growth could be on the cards for the world’s biggest Afrobeats festival.
Burna Boy and Wizkid will headline the brand’s debut Miami, Florida edition, presented by Event Horizon, SMADE and Live Nation at LoanDepot Park from 27-28 May, while previous Afro Nation festivals have taken place in Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean since the brand launched in 2019.
“We launched Afro Nation Miami recently and would love to do more shows in the US,” Asika tells IQ. “Brazil would be an incredible place to host an Afro Nation show and it is very much on our roadmap for the future, and of course more shows on the African continent.
“A lot goes into selecting locations for an Afro Nation festival, the beauty of the site, event infrastructure, travel logistics and accommodation for guests, but most importantly, everywhere you’ll find an Afro Nation event will be bringing joy to sites of cultural significance around the world.”
“Afrobeats is still a relatively new genre in terms of worldwide popularity and we are on a mission to help elevate the next generation of global superstars”
Event Horizon co-founder Asika has been co-head of UTA’s UK office since the company acquired his Echo Location Talent Agency in 2021, and will appear on The Open Forum: The industry health check panel at this year’s ILMC.
The leading agent stresses the importance of Afro Nation providing a platform for the next generation of talent, as well as showcasing globally renowned acts.
“Afrobeats is still a relatively new genre in terms of worldwide popularity and we are on a mission to help elevate the next generation of global superstars, so it was incredible to see such an enormous outpouring of love for artists such as Rema, CKay, Major League DJz and Uncle Waffles, as much as it was humbling to see how far artists like Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy have come,” says Asika.
“We’re sure to witness some big moments with artists on an impressive trajectory like Fireboy DML and Asake this summer, and also like bringing massive non-English language acts like Dadju to even wider audiences.”
Last year, the festival marked its North American debut with Afro Nation Puerto Rico, as well as its return to Portugal for the second time and Ghana, for the first time since 2019. A Mexican edition had also been planned for September 2020, before the pandemic intervened.
“In 2023, we will be building on our VIP experience, elevating the beach club events and really optimising the stunning site that we build this festival on”
The 2023 Portugal event is scheduled for Portimão from 28-30 June, headlined by Burna Boy, 50 Cent and Booba.
“We’ve just announced the first phase line-up for Afro Nation Portugal 2023 and are really excited about the opportunity with the show this year,” says Asika. “We always strive to represent as many genres and artists from as many countries as possible, led by Africa, and we have a great platform to build on after an incredibly successful event in Portugal last year.
“2022 saw a great deal of change, with a huge, brand new main stage, raised production levels and a completely unique backstage artist village concept that we commissioned. In 2023, we will be building on our VIP experience, elevating the beach club events and really optimising the stunning site that we build this festival on.
“Evolving our infrastructure in an aesthetically pleasing way that is harmonious to our beach setting is incredibly important to us, in the same way we always look to support the local industry and economies by working collaboratively and constructively with everyone around us.”
Asika says ticket sales for Afro Nation Portugal’s 2022 edition “surpassed all our objectives” despite logistical issues related to the pandemic.
“The Portugal show doubled in size and we sold 50% of our tickets for 2023 before we even announced our line up, so we have built an incredibly loyal fanbase for the brand,” he says. “There were difficulties in getting access to certain equipment as our industry still felt the after effects of the pandemic and one thing we have done as a business to combat that is to invest more in owning our own inventory. For example we have invested into owning our own main stage, security barriers and steel shields to use at our festivals in Portugal and West Africa, and also to allow touring artists and other promotions – such as Global Citizens and Black Star Line Festival in 2022 – to access it.”
“We are generally hearing good things about ticket sales and if you have a strong brand with a clear identity then people will keep buying tickets”
He continues: “One issue we have faced with building events in multiple territories such as Ghana, Puerto Rico, Miami and Portugal is around artist travel and visa difficulties, but this is part of our commitment to having as much global representation on stage as we possibly can.
“Ticketing can also be an issue, a process we want to make as easy and accessible as possible, so we have partnered with Easol to sell our tickets and introduced them to African payment gateways so they can take payment from customers using African cards. We pride ourselves on partnering with innovative technologies and removing obstacles in the industry.”
While Asika acknowledges there is some concern in the live events industry over the potential effect on ticket sales from the cost of living crisis, he is feeling positive about the season ahead.
“We are generally hearing good things about ticket sales and if you have a strong brand with a clear identity then people will keep buying tickets,” he adds. “Due to the backlog from Covid there were too many shows last year. Now things are back to normal and we broadly have a positive outlook on the events industry. The travel industry also seems to be recovering well and, as a promoter who offers international event experiencers, that’s very promising to see.”
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