Eden Venture Group Champions Creative Economy as Catalyst for Nigeria’s Development

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The two-day forum, themed “Next-Generation Media Partnerships for Social Impact and Innovation,” explored how storytelling, technology, and data can accelerate progress in health, education, and inclusive economic growth.

For Fifehan Osikanlu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eden Venture Group, the goal is clear: to bridge Nigeria’s creative industry with systems that drive measurable growth.

“True collaboration isn’t about funding the final product — it’s about co-creating solutions that integrate into development systems,” she added. “That’s when impact becomes scalable.”

The Entertaining Change sessions are part of a global series — with previous events in New York, and upcoming engagements in Lagos and Los Angeles — aimed at establishing frameworks that connect creative content with measurable social outcomes.

Orozco explained that the World Bank, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expanding research into new formats such as podcasts and digital storytelling to promote gender equality and behavioral change. “The evidence is clear,” he said. “When creative storytelling meets public policy, impact scales exponentially.”

Victor Orozco-Olvera, Senior Economist at the World Bank, cited examples from Nigerian television like the TV drama MTV Shuga where the evaluation showed doubled HIV testing rates and reduced chlamydia infections by half,” he said. “Another series, My Better World, which won an international Emmy award, increased school attendance by 43 percent and lowered teenage marriage and pregnancy rates by 15 percent.”

Prof. Dr. Sharath Guntuku of the University of Pennsylvania explained that AI tools can analyse millions of films, podcasts, and social media posts to reveal what societies value or reject and how it evolves over time. “AI can show us what resonates — what people celebrate, what they resist,” he said. “That insight can guide both content creators and policymakers in identifying tipping points to shape inclusive narratives.”

The Lagos forum is expected to expand the dialogue into policy design, financing models, and creative strategies and innovative systems.