Inspiro at 25 moves beyond events to build Nigeria’s creative economy

By Emmanuel Daniji

For 25 years, Inspiro has been part of the business of putting people, music, culture and entertainment in the same room. But as the company marks its 25th anniversary, it is looking beyond producing events.

Inspiro Productions is entering a new phase, repositioning simply as Inspiro and expanding into Creative Economy Strategy & Development.

The move represents a shift from the traditional event-production business into areas including intellectual property, creative infrastructure, talent development, commercialisation, investment frameworks and ecosystem building.

The company will mark the milestone with The Creative Economy Experience, a four-day programme scheduled for October 1 to 4, 2026, at the upgraded Inspiro Creative Hub in Masha, Surulere, Lagos.

The theme is “Inspiro @ 25 — The Creative Voyage Continues: From Creativity to Economic Value.”

And that theme captures what the company says is the thinking behind its new direction.

Turning talent into wealth

Nigeria has never had a shortage of creative people.

From musicians and filmmakers to fashion designers, photographers, performers, writers, event producers and digital creators, Nigerian talent continues to travel far beyond the country’s borders.

The bigger question has always been how much of that creativity can be converted into sustainable businesses, intellectual property, jobs and long-term wealth.

That is the gap Inspiro says it now wants to address.

Founder and CEO Ayoola Sadare, popularly known as Shaddie Bobo, said the company wants to apply the lessons it has gathered from 25 years of working directly within Nigeria’s cultural and entertainment space to the systems that support creative businesses.

“For 25 years, Inspiro has executed culture on the ground. Today, we are taking everything we have learnt from that experience and applying it to the systems around creativity — strategy, intellectual property, infrastructure, partnerships, commercialisation and development,” Sadare said.

He argued that the challenge is not a lack of Nigerian creativity but the absence of enough structured systems to turn that creativity into long-term economic value.

The company therefore intends to operate across two broad areas: Strategy & Advisory, covering creative economy strategy, intellectual property development, cultural destinations, investment frameworks and institutional partnerships; and Platforms & Execution, covering creative hubs, festivals, experiences, talent development, content, enterprise programmes and commercialisation platforms.

A creative hub in Surulere

One of the clearest expressions of the new direction is the upgraded Inspiro Creative Hub in Masha, Surulere.

Rather than functioning simply as an event venue, the hub is being positioned as a working creative ecosystem where talent, businesses, ideas and commercial opportunities can meet.

The facility supports creative production, rehearsals, content creation and experiences, while also hosting a Weekend Creative Pop-Up Market for creative businesses.

For young creatives trying to turn their talent into a career, spaces like this can provide something that is often missing: somewhere to create, collaborate, test ideas and meet potential partners.

Inspiro’s existing activities also stretch beyond entertainment. The company has provided strategic and logistics support for BenDancer’s current Guinness World Records attempt and runs the Know Your Numbers health-awareness and medical outreach programme for creatives.

Its broader work has included music, festivals and cultural platforms. In 2026, Inspiro has also been involved in the Nigerian coordination of AfroVision X, a multidisciplinary creative platform connecting African and Caribbean creativity with international audiences and markets. Nigerian media reports have described Inspiro as the local partner leading the country’s activation for the project.

The company has also continued its involvement in live music through platforms such as the Lagos International Jazz Festival and the LIJF/NAIJAZZ Super Sessions.

A bigger conversation about Nigeria’s creatives

Inspiro’s anniversary comes at a time when the Nigerian creative economy is increasingly being discussed not just as entertainment, but as an economic sector.

The African Development Bank’s 2025 Nigeria Country Focus Report has been cited in the announcement as valuing Nigeria’s creative industry at about US$15 billion, with the potential to create millions of jobs.

The announcement also references a national Creative Economy Mapping Report cited by NIPSS, which projects that the sector could potentially contribute up to US$100 billion to Nigeria’s GDP by 2030 under an ideal scenario.

Those figures are projections rather than guaranteed outcomes, but they underline the size of the opportunity Inspiro is positioning itself around.

The company’s argument is straightforward: Nigeria already has the talent and cultural influence. The next challenge is building the infrastructure, investment channels, intellectual-property systems, distribution networks and commercial structures that allow creatives to benefit financially from what they create.

Four days to celebrate 25 years

The Creative Economy Experience, holding from October 1 to 4, will bring together conversations around the creative economy, networking, entertainment, experiences at the hub, the Weekend Pop-Up Market and the Know Your Numbers outreach programme.

It will also serve as a public introduction to the next chapter of Inspiro.

After 25 years of producing experiences, the company is now attempting something broader — helping build the machinery behind the experiences.

For Sadare and his team, the ambition is no longer simply to ask what Nigeria’s creatives can create.

It is about asking what systems can be built around that creativity so that the people who create the music, films, fashion, art, experiences and intellectual property can turn their ideas into sustainable economic value.