The maiden edition of The Event Xperience Africa (TEXA2019), convened by event management pioneer and entrepreneur, Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, ended on Thursday with Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria; Amaechi Okobi, Group Head, Corporate Communications, Access Bank; Yemi Amusan, CEO, Lucere Limited; Alibaba, Veteran MC/Compere; Ziad Nassar, Luxury Event Designer, and others engaging young entrepreneurs on professionalism, creativity and effective collaboration during the 3-day conference held in Lagos.
Themed ‘Be More, Do More: Inspiring New Frontiers’, the conference was birthed out of the need to build and mentor an ever-growing audience of young and creative entrepreneurs within and outside Africa, while also providing opportunities for networking among businesses across international boundaries.
The event was officially launched with an opening beach cocktail on 15 January, 2019, with several celebrities in attendance including Kate Henshaw, Tobi Bakre, Kaffy, Lala Akindoju, Chef Fregz, DJ Consequence, Lamide Akintobi, and many others. There were interesting activities such as face painting, dance sessions, games and more, with live performances by Eboni Band.
Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria, Ibukun Awosika, delivered the keynote speech, as she highlighted the need to build successful businesses through discipline, integrity, and consistency among young entrepreneurs. To engage the audience in panel discussions were various industry experts including Steve Babaeko, Charles O’Tudor, Ivie Ogbomwan, Tricia Ikponmwonba, Chioma Ifeanyi Eze, Stella Duru, Kola Oyeneyin and international events professionals such as Jhandell Afi (Ghana), Astou Djamat-Dubois (Ivory Coast), Susan Maina (Kenya), and Chioma Nwogu (USA).
For the finale on Day 3, speakers focused on professionalism and excellence in service
The conference which recorded over 500 attendees from across Nigeria and beyond, featured curated classes and session on leveraging technology in the events industry, an event showcase, event marketing, and a general session with Funke Bucknor-Obruthe.
Hosted by Kemi ‘Lala’ Akindoju, other speakers at the conference include George Okoro, Lanre Esho, DJ JimmyJatt, Funke Awobokun, Bovi, Jide Odukoya, DJ Spinall, Kaffy, Ebuka, Chef Fregz, Edi Lawani, Onye Ubanatu, Dr. Roberts, Mfon Ekpo and many others.
###
About TEXAfrica
The Event Xperience Africa (TEXA) is a global networking event which held from 15 – 17 January 2019. TEXA is designed to bring together seasoned and new event professionals across the African continent, taking participants on an exciting, informative, insightful and unusual experience, engaging them on trade secrets, curated sessions, emerging innovations and trends in the events industry.