Event planners urged to build strong structures for sustainable businesses
By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin
Event planners across Africa have been urged to prioritise passion, consistency and strong business structures to build sustainable enterprises capable of thriving beyond their founders.
The Chief Executive Officer of Daraibo Events and Services Ltd., Oluwaseun Adewoye, made the call while speaking on the recently held Event Summit Africa Mid-Year Virtual Conference, themed, “Building to Last: The Africa Experience.”
Adewoye, who has more than 15 years of experience in event planning and has received professional training in Nigeria and Dubai, said the conference was organised to connect event professionals from Nigeria and other African countries, including practitioners in the diaspora.
He said the virtual summit, held in August, followed the physical edition held in Kwara in March 2026, adding that some professionals in the diaspora had expressed concerns about being excluded from previous editions.
According to him, the virtual conference attracted more than 200 participants through Zoom and YouTube, with attendees joining from different African countries and the United Kingdom, while facilitators from Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia trained participants on strategies for growing and sustaining their businesses.
Adewoye said the central message of the conference was the need for event professionals to build strong structures from the outset, stressing that passion, consistency and excellent service delivery would help practitioners establish a strong reputation, attract clients and develop businesses that could operate without depending solely on their founders.
Speaking on challenges facing event planners in Africa, he identified acceptance and funding as major concerns, noting that some people still believed event planning could be handled by family members or friends rather than professional practitioners, although recognition of the industry’s importance was growing.
Adewoye also called for increased government support and patronage of competent local event professionals, urging state governments to involve practitioners in organising official activities and programmes. Participants, including Ogunniran Kehinde and Tochukwu Aderibigbe, described the summit as impactful and insightful, with Aderibigbe highlighting quality service delivery as one of the key lessons from the masterclass.
