Key points
- Goge Africa has announced the inauguration of a Cultural Dialogue and Diplomacy Series to promote African culture as a strategic tool for diplomacy, tourism development, and economic growth.
- The initiative is being convened in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation.
- The first edition of the series is scheduled to be unveiled on July 2, 2026, under the theme, “Eyo, Culture and Soft Power — Driving Diplomacy, Integration and Economic Growth.”
- The platform marks an evolution from traditional cultural storytelling to direct policy engagement.
- The inaugural programme will feature a high-level dialogue, a diplomatic roundtable involving more than 20 consular missions, and a documentary premiere.
Main Story
Goge Africa has announced the inauguration of a Cultural Dialogue and Diplomacy Series aimed at promoting African culture as a tool for diplomacy, tourism development and economic growth.
The announcement was made in a statement by the Co-founder of Goge Africa, Nneka Isaac-Moses, on Monday in Lagos.
She said the initiative marks a new phase in the organisation’s over 25-year effort to document and promote African heritage across the continent.
Isaac-Moses explained that the series is being organised in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), with support from the Lagos State Government and the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy.
She said the platform represents a shift from cultural storytelling to policy engagement, where culture can contribute to discussions on diplomacy, trade, tourism and development.
The first edition of the series is scheduled for July 2, 2026, with the theme “Eyo, Culture and Soft Power — Driving Diplomacy, Integration and Economic Growth.”
According to her, the initiative will use the Eyo tradition as a lens to explore how culture can support diplomacy, integration and economic development.
She added that the programme will become an annual platform focusing on different African cultural themes, cities and traditions while promoting partnerships, cultural exchange and investment opportunities.
Isaac-Moses said the event will feature the premiere of a documentary titled “Eyo: Culture, Memory and Power,” a high-level dialogue on culture and soft power, and a diplomatic roundtable involving more than 20 consular missions.
It will also include a cultural exhibition and the inauguration of “The Dialogue Journal,” a publication focused on cultural diplomacy and thought leadership.
Director-General of the NIIA, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, said culture has become an increasingly important tool in international relations and engagement.
Goge Africa, founded in 1999 by Isaac and Nneka Moses, is a pan-African tourism and cultural programme dedicated to promoting African heritage.
The Issues
- Transitioning from passive cultural documentation into active rooms where trade is negotiated and policy is made.
- Effectively leveraging traditional symbols like the Eyo festival to drive regional integration and soft power diplomacy.
- Sustaining an annual, pan-African framework that continually unifies cross-continental tourism and investment partnerships.
What’s Being Said
- Recalling the long operational history of the media outfit in documenting grassroots heritage, Nneka Isaac-Moses stated: “For over twenty-five years, we carried the camera.”
- Emphasizing the limits of purely historical preservation without structural integration into modern statecraft, she noted: “We went to the villages, the palaces, the festivals, the sacred spaces. We documented everything we could but documentation alone is not enough.”
- Defining the strategic target of the newly inaugurated series in inserting heritage into executive and commercial decision-making spaces, Isaac-Moses added: “Culture must enter the rooms where policy is made, where trade is negotiated, where perception is shaped. That is what this series is designed to do,”
- Explaining why the national research community is partnering to back the project as a modern diplomatic asset, the Director-General of NIIA, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, remarked: “Culture, how nations tell their stories, project their values, and engage with one another, has become a defining instrument of diplomacy. That is why NIIA is proud to host and co-convene this Series,”
What’s Next
- Organizers will prepare to officially unveil the first edition of the series in Lagos on July 2, 2026.
- Goge Africa and its partners will host more than 20 consular missions during the scheduled high-level diplomatic roundtable.
- The platform will officially publish and launch its new thought-leadership publication, “The Dialogue Journal.”
Bottom Line
Moving beyond 25 years of pure documentation, Goge Africa has partnered with the NIIA and CBAAC to launch an annual Cultural Dialogue and Diplomacy Series, kicking off on July 2, 2026, to utilize the iconic Eyo tradition as a soft-power tool for trade, policy engagement, and continental economic growth.
