In the heart of Nigeria’s bustling cities, creativity, innovation, and collaboration converged to explore a transformative idea: that media, when aligned with purpose, can drive meaningful social change. Entertaining Change: Next-Generation Media Partnerships for Social Impact and Gender Equality, co-hosted by The World Bank and Eden Venture Group, unfolded across Abuja (October 28–29) and Lagos (November 5–6), demonstrating how storytelling, technology, and policy can become powerful levers for education, gender equality, and social inclusion.

Abuja: Sparking a National Conversation

Abuja’s session opened with an atmosphere charged with anticipation. Attendees from policymakers and media executives to technologists and investors gathered to explore edutainment, the practice of creating media that educates while entertaining, as a tool for societal transformation.

The event began with an inspiring keynote from His Highness Muhammad Sanusi II, PhD, CON — The Emir of Kano, whose remarks reminded participants that culture and creativity are not secondary to development they are its engine. His Highness emphasized that strategic investment in ideas, media, and technology can create pathways to equity, opportunity, and progress.

The day featured thought-provoking sessions and panel discussions with leaders including:

• Fifehan Osikanlu, Founder, Eden Venture Group
• Jacob Arback, Executive Vice Chairman, AREWA24 Television Network
• Aric Noboa, Co-CEO, Impact(Ed) International
• Victor Orozco-Olvera, Senior Economist, World Bank
• Renos Vakis, Head, Mind, Behavior and Development Unit, World Bank
• Johanna Blakley, Managing Director, USC Norman Lear Center
• Wame Jallow, Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation
• Sharif Kazemi, AI Products & Partnerships, World Bank DECDI AI Program
• Dr Folake Olatunji-David, Director, Basic Education, Federal Ministry of Education Nigeria
• Audu Maikori, Co-Founder, Chocolate City Entertainment
• Adekunle Adebiyi & Folajimi Alli-Balogun, MBO Capital Management
• Habibah A. Waziri, Managing Director, BGR Consulting
• Banke Ajagunna, Special Adviser, Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy

Across panels and workshops, participants explored how storytelling, data, and AI can shift human behaviour and societal norms, strengthen education systems, and amplify gender equity initiatives. Discussions highlighted the growing opportunities for emerging markets to create content that resonates locally while competing globally.

Key takeaways included

• Data-Driven Storytelling: Leveraging audience insights to craft media that reflects social realities.
• AI in Edutainment: Using artificial intelligence to analyze gender portrayals, measure impact, and optimize engagement.
• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Building sustainable partnerships between media creators, investors, policymakers, and NGOs.
• Scaling Impact: Approaches to producing media that is both commercially viable and socially impactful.

Abuja set the stage for an exciting journey of collaboration and innovation—a reminder that when the right minds meet, transformative ideas emerge.

Lagos: Scaling Innovation and Sustainable Impact

From Abuja, the dialogue traveled to Lagos (November 5–6), Nigeria’s commercial and creative hub. Here, the focus shifted to scaling impact, sustainability, and the integration of cutting-edge technologies in media for social good.

In Lagos, the sessions were hands-on, with workshops and panels that dove into the mechanics of producing high-quality, socially impactful content at scale. Participants explored how AI, EdTech, and digital media can analyze audience behaviour, inform content creation, and measure real-world impact.

Highlights included:

• AI-Powered Insights: Demonstrations on how AI tools track representation, engagement, and social outcomes in media content.
• Commercial Sustainability: Case studies on financing models and partnership structures that allow socially impactful media projects to thrive economically.
• Media for Education and Social Change: Strategies for using entertainment to improve learning outcomes, drive behavioral change, and strengthen gender equality initiatives.
• Investor Engagement: Panels connecting financiers with media creators to explore partnerships that drive both social and economic returns.

The Lagos sessions reinforced a vital insight: media is most powerful when creativity, capital, and technology intersect. Storytelling, when grounded in research and amplified by innovation, can drive measurable social transformation.

Building a Movement: The Future of Edutainment in Nigeria

Entertaining Change is more than an event series—it is a growing ecosystem connecting entertainment, media, technology, data, and capital. Across Abuja and Lagos, it became clear that the future of social impact lies in collaboration, innovation, and storytelling that resonates at scale.

The event demonstrated that:

• Culture and creativity are engines of development.
• AI and data can enhance storytelling for social good.
• Sustainable partnerships between development and media sectors are possible and profitable.
• Emerging markets have the potential to produce content that is globally competitive yet locally relevant.

As the movement continues, participants are now equipped to produce media that drives social progress, engages communities, and unlocks economic opportunity. Nigeria’s creative and development sectors are converging, and the momentum from Entertaining Change promises to redefine how stories of progress are told.