The sixth edition of ADICOMDAYS will take place in Abidjan on November 12. What will be the main themes of this upcoming edition? Who will be the speakers? What's new?
A major theme has been chosen for this new edition of Adicomdays: engagement, with a focus on everything related to "likes" and "comments on social media." We will then try to highlight what this engagement can bring to digital players. To explore this theme further, we have chosen Nigeria as the host country for the event. Several guests from the country will take part in the event. We can count on the presence of Uche Pedro, founder of BellaNaija, Kemi Adetiba – producer and director,
Enioluwa ADEOLUWA, content creator and GenZ leader in Nigeria, will also be participating. Arese Ugwu, best-selling author and television series producer,
and Sydney Talker,
social media comic actor, influencer, and content material writer, will also be participating.
There is also a big change for the "Awards" section. This year, we will not be rewarding content creators but concepts in technology, humor, fiction, fashion, travel, social impact, and more.
There will also be a "short content" category sponsored by CANAL+, a "fashion" category sponsored by the Uniwax brand, and the "Coup de Coeur" grand prize from TV5Monde Afrique.
For this new edition of Adicomdays, we want to send a strong message once again. Two years ago, we were the first to launch the debate on communities, last year we highlighted the fundamentals of African storytelling, and this year our goal is to take the debate further on the battle for engagement between brands and content creators in the digital sphere.
Why did you choose to build bridges with English-speaking Africa for this edition?
We did indeed choose to open this edition to English-speaking Africa to build bridges between this region and French-speaking Africa.
We have always been keen to represent English-speaking Africa by inviting personalities from neighboring countries, but this time we want to go further and create real spaces for inspiration. We don't live in the same contexts, but we complement each other. We believe it is important to identify and connect these players from the English-speaking region with those from French-speaking Africa so that we can go further together on the digital path. Nigeria, in particular, has a very strong influence on the continent from a cultural and economic point of view. Its representation at Adicomdays is therefore a given.
2017-2022: what is the outcome for Adicomdays? What developments have you observed in the digital ecosystem in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa?
We have observed several significant developments:
- From a structural point of view, internet penetration continues to accelerate. We must therefore welcome this momentum and commend the work of the authorities, who are stepping up their infrastructure initiatives.
- From a "content creation" perspective, a whole generation of young content creators is emerging. We can see this particularly thanks to new platforms such as TikTok. This new generation is taking social media by storm with even greater ease and confidence than previous generations. The downside to all this is that we are seeing a stagnation in content creation and storytelling that stands out and can travel internationally.
- From a "brands" perspective, budgets are increasing, which is very positive! Every year, brands are showing a real willingness to embrace digital and increasingly understand the role, value, and realities of content creators, thereby multiplying win-win collaborations that serve everyone's objectives.