Steve Babaeko Decries 40-Year Industry Stagnation, Calls For Innovation, True African Collaboration
The President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Nigeria Chapter and CEO/CCO of X3M Ideas Group, Mr. Steve Babaeko has expressed deep concern over the enduring challenges faced by Nigeria’s creative advertising industry, lamenting that the same fundamental issues that existed over four decades ago still persist.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Brand Communicator at the ongoing AAAN 52nd Annual General Meeting/Congress in Ibadan, Oyo state, Babaeko said the industry’s struggle with economic uncertainty, inadequate regulation, and lack of meaningful global integration continues to hinder its growth.
Citing historical references from the AAAN’s own archives, Babaeko referenced the tenure of Prince Kehinde Adeosun as AAAN President in 1985–86 to illustrate how deeply entrenched the problems are: “Prince Kehinde Adeosun collected the baton from Chief Falomo. He was in office for a year. He successfully steered the Association through a stormy period. He captured the situation succinctly when he wrote: ‘This executive went through what can be rightly described as one of the most turbulent years in the history of this Association. The outgoing year sneaked in with frightening uncertainties. It was most difficult to ascertain the survival of the advertising industry in particular and the country’s badly battered economy in general. It was like the end was coming slowly but surely. This already gloomy situation was further compounded by the NPAN/AAAN crisis which thundered in like a belligerent hydra swearing black and blue and threatening our very existence.”
Babaeko observed that despite the passage of time, little has changed in terms of economic hardship and existential uncertainty. “The situation being described was in 1985–86 and that’s about 40 years ago, so what is different from what is happening now and then? We’re still in it,” he said. “It feels like the perception of difficulty will probably always be there. What can we as practitioners do to ensure that we navigate our way through it? And that’s by collaboration and innovative thinking—by applying and embracing more of technology instead of being fearful of it.”
In a wide-ranging discussion that touched on regulatory gaps, foreign agency invasion, and the role of technology, Babaekowas emphatic about the need for proper regulation to ensure a level playing field, particularly as foreign agencies increasingly seek to do business in Nigeria. While acknowledging Nigeria’s reputation as a business-friendly destination, he insisted that such openness should not come at the expense of regulation.
“This country is a business-friendly one. I’m not sure, but if you ask the majority of the practitioners, I don’t think they have any problem with foreign agencies coming in,” he said. “But if they are going to come in, they must play by the rules, that’s what we’re asking. There is a process of registration and licensing that goes via ARCON. We invite them to come and register, come and be vetted and go through the process that will allow them to operate here.”
Babaeko likened the unchecked entry of foreign agencies into Nigeria’s market to a medical practitioner opening a hospital without accreditation. “Just like Nigerians can’t go into any country and open a hospital and want to start carrying out surgery on people, you have to go through the medical association,” he said. “As close as the jurisdiction or process of the UK and Nigeria are… because most of our legal process is based on the UK law system, as close as they are, one cannot graduate from the UK law school and want to start practicing here without becoming a member of NBA, it’s not possible. It’s the same thing we’re saying for advertising. One cannot just pack their loads from one country and come to Nigeria and open shop claiming you’re practicing. We have to be vetted, given license, so come and go through the same process in Nigeria—that’s all I’m saying.”
Babaeko also addressed the motive and philosophy behind X3M Ideas’ recent international expansion through a strategic partnership with IKIGAI 360, a move that extends the agency’s presence into new territories such as Mozambique and Portugal. This expansion complements X3M Ideas’ existing footprint in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Dubai, and London. He clarified that the partnership was rooted in the desire to collaborate with entities that understand and respect African narratives, in contrast to what he described as the superficial interest of agencies from the global North.
“The truth is that most of the agencies from the global North pretend to want to build an African network, but they don’t speak the African language or understand the continent,” he said. “But we are here, I was born here and I live here. We are looking for partners that will collaborate so that we can open this industry to continue to tell good African stories.”
He explained that the move to expand into Mozambique and Portugal fills a strategic gap in X3M’s continental network. “If you look at what we’ve done before, in West Africa, we have West Africa covered in Nigeria, we have Central Africa covered by Congo Brazzaville, we have the Southern Africa market covered by Zambia and Johannesburg,” he explained. “So the areas where we have not been able to touch are the markets like Mozambique and Angola and by extension Portugal. There is now a market close to us. We have the opportunity to provide service to some of our Nigerian clients who are also moving outward or going into these markets.”
The partnership, he emphasized, is not just about geographical expansion but about cultural integration and storytelling authenticity. “We want to tell African stories to the world with the nuance, depth, and understanding they deserve,” he said.