The Federal Government is backing a new digital push to turn Nigeria’s festive season into a major economic engine, with the launch of MyCityApp and a 100-day tourism calendar aimed at helping unlock a projected $100bn tourism and creative economy.
The special adviser on media and Publicity to the Tourism Minister, Dr Nnekka Ikem Anibeze in a statement indicated that the platform was unveiled on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, is designed to bring festivals, concerts, cultural events and other lifestyle experiences across Nigeria into one digital calendar.
The initiative the statement explained targets the September-to-December festive period, when millions of Nigerians in the diaspora and international visitors travel across the country to celebrate, reconnect and spend.
Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said the government wanted to move beyond treating the festive season simply as a period of celebration and instead turn it into a structured economic opportunity.
“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar,” Musawa said.
According to her, every visitor activates a chain of businesses, including aviation, transportation, hotels, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans and local communities.
She said the Federal Government was therefore seeking stronger collaboration among states, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other private-sector players to maximise the economic benefits of the season.
Musawa urged organisers of festivals, concerts, exhibitions, food experiences, cultural celebrations, fashion shows, sporting events and conferences scheduled between September and December to upload them onto the national calendar.
The minister said the ambition was to create a single platform through which Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors could discover experiences taking place across the country.
“If you are organising a festival, concert, exhibition, food experience, cultural celebration, fashion event, sporting event, tourism experience, conference, or any major activity during this period, we want it on the national calendar,” she said.
Chief Executive Officer of MyCityApp, Ifeoma Chukwu, said Nigeria had the cultural and creative resources to build a $100bn tourism economy if the country could better organise and monetise its tourism assets.
Chukwu cited tourism contributions to the economies of Spain, France and the United States as evidence that tourism could become a major economic pillar.
“When we speak about building a $100 billion tourism economy, it may sound ambitious. But globally, the evidence tells us it is achievable,” she said.
She asked, “So, the question is not whether a $100 billion tourism economy is possible. It is: why not Nigeria?”
MyCityApp and MyLagosApp are expected to provide the digital infrastructure for the 100-day calendar, using a wider media network to promote events to audiences in Nigeria and abroad.
Stakeholders were urged to submit their events through the MyCityApp platform for inclusion in the calendar.
The launch attracted government officials and private-sector stakeholders, including Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke; NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika; National Gallery of Art Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi; ARCON Director-General, Olalekan Fadolapo; and MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola.