As I moved through the space, I was struck by how Gather House Lagos had transformed from its origins as pop-up markets at Alliance Française into this permanent beacon of community-driven commerce. The evening's celebrations felt like a natural extension of the space's mission—recognizing not just individual success but the collective power of creative's entrepreneurship in Lagos.

While African countries, individually, regionally, or on a pan-African scale, are still struggling to adjust their policies and recalibrate their strategies to effectively protect their domestic market, it is crucial to act quickly at the business level. Pending a coordinated and effective response from governments, it is imperative to propose concrete strategies to strengthen the resilience of local brands and reposition them distinctively in the market.

Faced with major challenges, African producers and artisans must get into step and adapt to a dynamic that has become internationalized and is coming close to home with the transformation of the distribution sector. Here are some ideas:

The objective, to catalyze a creative synergy within the Foumbanese community: to bring together the different actors of crafts - established artisans, students and apprentices - from various specialties such as foundry, pottery, sculpture and manual engraving. By bringing them together in a space dedicated to innovation over a concentrated period, the program seeks to stimulate collaboration...