Nigerian-born British events promoter Adesegun Adeosun, widely known as Smade, is in Kigali since Thursday, December 26, for a private visit. Smade is the co-founder of Afro Nation, a renowned annual music festival which brings together Africa’s finest artistes across various genres including Afrobeats, hip hop, RnB, Dancehall and Amapiano among others. He traveled to Kigali, invited by Rwandan creative entrepreneur Gael Karomba, also known as Coach Gael, the founder of 1:55AM record label whose team welcomed him upon arrival at Kigali International Airport. During his stay, the two entrepreneurs have been discussing areas of investment in Rwandan creative industry and beyond while also exploring together strategies to push Rwandan music to the global big stages like Afro Nation which hosts a number music super stars in Africa and across the globe. The most recent edition of Afro Nation festival which took place in Portugal in June brought to stage a host of big names including the likes of Asake, Niki Minaj, Rema, Fally Ipupa, Tay C, Dadju, Ninho, J Hus, Omah Lay, Flavour, Diamond Platnumz and Uncle Waffles among many others on the long list. And the line-up up for the 2025 edition of the same festival is already out. It will again take place in Portugal in July with Burna Boy (again) and Tems leading the star-studded line-up. Nigerians have been dominating the Afro Nation festival’s stage alongside a number of other artistes from the West African region but no Rwandan artiste has been invited to the big stage yet. Could we finally see Rwandan talents taking the stage at the festival in the near future? Smade told journalists that he came to first see what Rwandan artistes have got to offer to the music world, then he and his team will explore any possibility to invite them. “We are about to showcase the talent that you have first. We have to see what it takes, what’s missing, what we need to do to make it better, how we can connect with the rest of the world and create more partnerships and collaborations. Once that is done, you’ll see one or two of your top stars on the stage,” he said. Most Nigerian artistes consider Afro Nation as their dearest platform to move their talents to the next level, but Smade insists that the festival is for everyone, especially African artistes. “All African countries are part of Afro Nation. It’s not just the Nigerian superstars, there are also Ghanaians, the Francophone, Amapiano artistes, and we want to bring that influence to Rwanda. I came here first to know the country,” he explained. “I want to meet all the biggest superstars, the fashion icons, all the creatives and see how we can improve entertainment, how we can improve the culture and how we can showcase the light and beauty of Rwanda.”
