What happens when some of the most influential voices in Black culture and entertainment sit around the same table as the people shaping Africa’s creative industries? At the Creative Exchange Dinner 2026 in Lagos, the goal was to find out. And we did.

Hosted by actors Meagan Good-Majors and Jonathan Majors, the dinner brought together filmmakers, actors, investors, entrepreneurs and creatives from across Africa and the global diaspora for an evening centred on the future of African storytelling. Held at Pitstop Village in Ikoyi, Lagos, the gathering formed part of the inaugural Diaspora Week Lagos, a two-week programme organised by Amplify Africa to connect members of the diaspora with the continent’s business, cultural and creative ecosystems.

 

Among the guests were Amandla Stenberg and Chiney Ogwumike, alongside other established and emerging voices across the entertainment and creative industries. But beyond the notable names in attendance, the evening was built around a bigger idea: creating more opportunities for African creatives and their counterparts in the diaspora to meet, exchange perspectives and explore what they could make together.

For an industry increasingly shaped by stories that travel across borders, that kind of exchange matters. African film, television and culture have found growing international audiences, but the relationships, resources and collaborative structures needed to sustain that momentum remain important conversations. Bringing together people working across different parts of the industry creates an opportunity to move those conversations from broad ideas about representation to the practical business of developing stories, building partnerships and reaching new audiences.

That ambition was central to the thinking behind the dinner. Organised as part of Diaspora Week Lagos’ Film and Art track, the gathering was designed to create room for conversations that might not otherwise happen, connecting creatives working on the continent with those building careers and influence internationally.

“We’re blessed with some of the most talented people in the world, and we still have so many stories to tell,” says Dami Kujembola, CEO and co-founder of Amplify Africa and Diaspora Week Lagos. “That’s why it was important to make the Creative Exchange Dinner part of Diaspora Week Lagos. We wanted creatives from the diaspora and creatives in Lagos to sit at the same table, hear what each other was working on, and ask, ‘What could we make together?’ A conversation over dinner can turn into a script, a film, or a partnership that lasts well beyond Diaspora Week. That’s the kind of connection we came to Lagos to build.”

It is an approach that speaks to a broader shift in how diaspora engagement is being imagined. Rather than limiting the relationship to tourism, cultural nostalgia or remittances, Diaspora Week Lagos is interested in what happens when people bring their professional networks, capital, expertise and creative ambitions into closer contact with the industries developing on the continent.

The Creative Exchange Dinner was organised in partnership with Woodhall Capital, The Temple Company, Trace West Africa, Pitstop Village and The Nile Group. Its focus on storytelling also offered a fitting extension of the wider programme, which brought together business, technology, fashion, film and art through a series of industry engagements and cultural experiences across Lagos.

Ultimately, the value of an evening like this cannot be measured by the guest list alone. It lies in the conversations that continue after the dinner, the introductions that become working relationships and the ideas that eventually find their way onto screens. For African storytelling, the next chapter may depend not only on the stories being told, but also on the connections being built around the people telling them.

Here are some of the highlights from the dinner.

 

 

 

 

Image Credit: @rockyemmyphotography