Award-winning actress Genoveva Umeh, The Black Book director Editi Effiong and record-holding DJ Obi are among 20 participants confirmed for NECLive 2026, the 11th edition of the Nigerian Entertainment Conference.
The three-day conference returns in November, with its flagship event on Thursday, 12 November, at Alliance Française de Lagos, Ikoyi. Organisers announced the first lineup on 19 October and said more speakers would follow in the coming weeks.
Comedian Tee A returns as host, extending his record as NECLive’s resident host and a member of its committee. He co-hosted last year’s edition with broadcaster Bolanle Olukanni. Co-hosts, moderators and interviewers for 2026 will be confirmed later.
Screen talent from Netflix to the festival circuit
Umeh, who won the 2024 AMVCA for Best Supporting Actress for Breath of Life, returned to Netflix in June in season two of Blood Sisters. She is also a 2026 Best Lead Actress nominee for The Herd.
Effiong’s The Black Book became the first Nigerian-made film to reach Netflix’s global top three in 2023. In February, his company Anakle Films announced a sequel, The Black Book 2: Old Scores, co-produced by Severance producer Nicholas Weinstock.
They are joined by Kayode Kasum, director of Ajosepo and Afamefuna: An Nwa Boi Story and producer of August’s Alahun: The Weaver; Efa Iwara, a three-time AMVCA nominee; and Dika Ofoma, whose short films premiered internationally at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2025 and 2026. Jennifer Ukoh, PR Manager at MultiChoice, now a Canal+ company, completes the screen lineup.
The executives behind the music
The lineup leans heavily on the business side of Nigerian music. Godwin Tom became the first Managing Director of Sony Music Publishing Nigeria when the company opened its Lagos office in 2022. Excel Joab leads A&R and artist development for West Africa at AWAL, Sony Music’s artist services company.
Both managing partners of The Plug will take part. Bizzle Osikoya co-founded the company with Asa Asika in 2016. Tobi Mohammed joined in 2022, when The Plug merged with his TopBoy Entertainment, the company behind the Block Party series.
Entertainment lawyer Foza Fawehinmi heads Digital Music Commerce and Exchange, which values and administers music catalogues in four African countries. Femisoro Ajayi has managed rapper and actor Falz since 2012.
Gospel, fashion and nightlife
Gospel is represented by singer Greatman Takit, who released the 23-track album Flames of a Wildfire this year, and Dr. Foy, a medical doctor who heads Energize Music. DJ Obi, who played a 240-hour set in Lagos in 2016 to break the world record, joins them. His Monday party, Obi’s House, began online during the 2020 lockdown and toured Los Angeles and New York last year.
Fashion is represented by broadcaster Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi, co-founder of TNC Africa, whose YouTube interview series The Fashion Roundtable premiered in March, and by Oluwaseye Oladejo, founder and CEO of the luxury womenswear label Sheye Oladejo.
Business and leadership
Three executives from the organisers’ wider group and partners complete the first lineup. Njideka Akabogu, Regional Manager at ID Africa, was named among Kenya’s top public relations practitioners by the Public Relations Society of Kenya. Iretomiwa Akintunde-Johnson, Regional Manager at BHM, returns after speaking at NECLive 2025. Joseph Enesu leads AI Labs at Plaqad, a conference partner.
NECLive is presented by ID Africa and Netng in partnership with Plaqad, The Macallan, MTN Nigeria, BHM and Huce Valeris.
Home Advantage
This year’s theme is “Home Advantage: Transforming Local Demand into Global Power.” It follows the release of The State of Nigeria’s Creative Economy 2026, a report produced with Frontyard from responses by 377 creative professionals across eight sectors. Organisers put the sector’s contribution at about 2.3 per cent of GDP, worth more than $4.2 billion a year.
“Nigeria’s creative industries already have the audience. The work now is turning that demand into lasting value at home and abroad,” said Ayeni Adekunle, Convener of NECLive.
Registration is open at nec.ng.
The post NECLive 2026 Unveils First Lineup for 11th Nigerian Entertainment Conference appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
from Nigerian Entertainment Today https://ift.tt/wV1z3JH
via IFTTT
Post a Comment