With Stakeholders’ Consensus, Lagos Can Host Loeries Festival -Loeries Chief, Preetesh Sewraj

For industry commentators who feel the Loeries cannot move from the South African environment, recent comments by the Chief Executive Officer of The Loeries Awards, Preetesh Sewraj may come as a huge surprise.
Speaking exclusively to Brand Communicator during a recent visit to Lagos, Preetesh Sewraj explained that his focus since he stepped in as CEO taking over from his predecessor, Andrew Human about two years ago, has been to aggregate the views of all stakeholders across the continent and the Middle East to ensure that participating agencies take ownership of the festival.
After an interactive session with key industry players held recently at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Sewraj was asked about the possibility of other African cities like Lagos hosting The Loeries in the near future. He responded that nothing is cast in stone.
His words: “What matters is the general consensus of the team and all stakeholders. As more agencies in Nigeria, Kenya and other countries in Africa and the Middle East become more involved, it would not be anything strange in future to hold The Loeries festival in Lagos, Kenya or any other city within the coverage area”.
Sewraj explained further that it was the passion to incorporate more players across Africa and the Middle East that led to the invitation of Nigeria’s Lanre Adisa into the highest organising committee of the awards for the first time.
Other members of the Loeries Awards Committee include Ali Red, Executive Creative Director, Impact BBDO, Dubai, and Maxwell Ngari, Executive Creative Director, Isobar, Kenya.
Sewraj who confessed that he never attended any Loeries festival until he was appointed CEO, said he was coming in with new viewpoints that will deepen creative excellence across Africa and the Middle East.
This, he explained, was the reason he planned a trip to Lagos and two other African cities immediately he was appointed about two years ago; but the plan was truncated by the COVID 19 pandemic.
“I am really excited that I can eventually land in Lagos to interact with people in the industry and gain insight into our next steps in fostering creative excellence in the advertising and brand communication industry in Africa” he stressed.
During the industry rendezvous, a panel discussion on “The Future of Creativity” was organised to articulate a roadmap for creativity in the industry. The panel had Nnenna Onyewuchi, Co-Founder/Chief Growth Officer, Halo Invest; Preetesh Sewraj and Steve Babaeko, President, AAAN as discussants. Lanre Adisa, CEO, Noah’s Ark played the role of the amiable moderator. A lot of vital issues affecting creativity in Nigeria were dissected and the session served also as an avenue for younger creatives to interact with more experienced professionals.
The Loeries festival was first held in 1978 as a mechanism to support and grow television advertising. Since then, it has grown to become the most prestigious award across Africa and the Middle East and has expanded to reward & inspire both innovation and relevance across all spheres of brand communication.
This year’s Loeries creative festival will be returning to the City of Cape Town for the 44th edition. It will take place from 3rd to 8th October 2022. The festival programmes usually include exciting events such as awards, ceremonies, masterclasses, networking events, and entertainment.
Attendance at the event is open to the public and tickets will go on sale in August.