Some six years ago, Nigeria’s Lanre Adisa, the Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer of Noah’s Ark Communications Limited, made history as the first Nigerian and most probably the first person from West Africa to be named a member of the Cannes Lions jury. When announcement of his appointment to the Brand Experience and Activation shortlist jury for the 2018 festival was made, it was widely celebrated in Nigeria and beyond.
Speaking on that development, Adisa had described his appointment as a watershed moment not just for Nigeria, but for the entire West African advertising industry, as well as the beginning of great things for the Nigerian Advertising Industry, having taken this long for any creative from the West African sub-region to be considered for such an assignment. Over the intervening years, more Nigerians will go on to represent the country as jurors.
Since its inception in 1954, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has been the apex of achievement for global advertising and communications, drawing the industry’s brightest minds and most innovative works to the sun-drenched shores of the French Riviera. However, the representation of Africa on this global stage has long been a point of contention, with the continent’s wealth of creative talent often overshadowed by the dominance of more established advertising hubs.
But the 2024 edition of the Cannes Lions Festival set to take place from June 17-21, 2024, is bringing a change to this narration, perhaps ushering in a new era of African influence, as the event’s organizers have announced an unprecedented level of representation from Nigeria on its jury panels, and, Africa, the largest from the continent and the Middle East in the history of the Cannes Lions Festival.
Indeed, Adisa’s prophetic words, spoken years ago have now come to fruition, as the 2024 Cannes Lions jury lineup features a veritable who’s who of African creative talent, a development that shows the continent’s growing influence and the tireless efforts of organizations like Black At Cannes to amplify representation on the global stage. Pundits argue that this massive inclusion for Africa comes at the heels of activities of such bodies like Black At Cannes, a body led by Osas Ukhurebor as Founder/CEO, to “foster a vibrant community of black executives, with the overarching goal of amplifying representation and expanding prospects on the grandest stage of advertising, media, and technology.”
These jury members come from different countries and disciplines, each bringing their unique perspective, experience, and knowledge to the table. From South Africa’s Andisa Ntsubane of Vodacom, who has been entrusted with the position of President of the Creative B2B section, a clear indication of the trust and respect the global industry has placed in African leadership; to our jinx-breaking Steve Babaeko, GMD/GCEO of X3M Ideas, and Kenya’s Emuron Alemu, the CCO of The Quollective, these Africans will be expected to bring their expertise to bear on their jury duty.
The Nigerian contingent to this year’s Cannes is impressive with Babeko who is also the AAAN President and will serve on the Print and Publishing jury, leading the Charge; Chima Okenimkpe, the ECD at Publicis West Africa serving with South Africa’s Keith Manning, the ECD at TBWA\Hunt Lascaris on the Lions Direct jury and Mary Njoku, the Founder and Managing Director of ROK Studios, who will be a juror for the Film category. Obi Asika, the Director-General and CEO of the National Council of Arts and Culture, will represent the Entertainment Lions for Music while Adetutu Laditan, the senior product marketing manager at Google, will contribute her expertise to the Social and Influencer Lions and Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh, the digital transformation lead for Africa at Microsoft, will lend her expertise to the Creative Business Transformation category. Nkiru Olumide-Ojo, the executive lead for marketing, communications, and CSI at Standard Bank, will represent Africa on the Sustainable Development Goals jury.
South African creatives are also particularly well-represented, with Nthabi Motsoeneng, the CMO for Africa and the Middle East at Pernod-Ricard, sitting on the Brand Experience and Activation jury; Ivan Moroke, the CEO of the Kantar Insights Division in South Africa, serving on the Creative Data jury; Elizabeth Mokwena, the executive marketing director for Home Care Africa at Unilever, joining the Creative Effectiveness jury; Jacquie Mullany, the ECD at FCB Africa, as a juror for Digital Craft; Monde Twala, the SVP and co-general manager at Paramount Africa and lead for BET International, representing the Entertainment category; Zee Ntuli, the director at Darling Films, serving on the Film Craft jury; Koo Govender, the CEO of Publicis Groupe, lending her expertise to the Glass: The Lion for Change category; Thandeka Gillbert, the creative group lead at McCann Joburg, on the Industry Craft jury; and Camilla Clerke, the ECD at Ogilvy, representing the Outdoor category.
Simon Cook, the CEO of Lions, acknowledged the importance of this increased representation, stating, “We’re delighted to have a balance and breadth of expertise and global representation across our Juries. The Awarding Juries represent the global industry’s leading talent from a diverse range of disciplines, and we welcome the unique perspectives they bring. We thank them for their time, dedication, and care in setting the global creative benchmark for our industry.”
Towing a similar line, Marian Brannelly, Global Director of Awards, Lions, said, “It’s exciting to see representation from four new markets this year – Armenia, Ghana, Pakistan, and Panama – as well as the highest-ever representation from the Middle East and Africa. Our Jurors play a crucial role in upholding the integrity of the Lions, and we thank them for everything they bring to the important task ahead.”
It is hoped that this representation will reflect on the number of Lions that will come the way of Africa, after all, Africa is the Lion’s natural habitat.
The first International Advertising Film Festival took place in Venice in 1954 with fourteen countries and 187 entries competing for the Lion trophy, after being held in Italy and Monaco, the festival landed in Cannes, France, where it has remained to date.