NIGERIA TO HOST LANDMARK AFRICAN-ARAB ART, COFFEE, CULTURAL COMMERCE FESTIVAL – ORGANISERS

PRESS STATEMENT

NIGERIA TO HOST LANDMARK AFRICAN-ARAB ART, COFFEE, CULTURAL COMMERCE FESTIVAL – ORGANISERS

A group of patriots, coffee enthusiasts and partners, acting under the aegis of Spirit of Coffee 2.0, has announced that Nigeria would host a landmark global conference to promote coffee as a golden international commodity.

The Spirit of Coffee 2.0 said in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja that the two-day event would hold at the Arts and Culture Centre, Garki Area 11, Abuja, Nigeria, on 18th and 19th November 2026.

According to the organisers, the epoch gathering will bring together various countries, diplomats, representatives of public and private sectors, experts, academics, media and coffee merchants, among others, to discuss coffee as a valuable commodity with its value chain towards increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of nations and foreign boost revenue earnings.

Tagged as a new annual platform for creative excellence, trade and cultural diplomacy, the conference set to unite Africa and the Arab world through the shared language of coffee, it explained.

The Spirit of Coffee, in partnership with the West Africa Specialty Coffee Association (WASCA) and Naeche Communications Ltd, are the proud initiators and organisers of Spirit of Coffee 2.0.

The event is conceived as an immersive convergence of art, trade, ritual and collaboration, Spirit of Coffee 2.0, also brings together artists, master baristas, producers, investors, cultural leaders and policy makers from across Africa and the Arab world, gathered around one of the most widely shared and deeply symbolic traditions of a broader coffee community.

The festival is built around four defining pillars: a curated art exhibition; a competitive baristas’ championship; executive papers and panel discussion; and a closing awards and auction evening. It is designed not as a single occasion, but as an enduring national institution that will grow in reach and significance with every edition. This is more than an event. It is a declaration of intent for Africa’s creative economy, it is indeed for the specialty coffee producers, and its cultural relationships with the Arab world that do deserve a platform commensurate with their promise.

For too long, coffee has left our shores as raw commodity and returned as finished luxury elsewhere. Spirit of Coffee 2.0 exists to change that narrative forever to place African artistry, African craft and African enterprise at the centre of a story we have every right to tell ourselves.

The President of Spirit of Coffee 2.0, Mr Larry Segun Lean, said: “This festival belongs to every producer working before dawn on a hillside farm, every artist translating heritage into form, every young barista perfecting a craft the world is only beginning to notice. Spirit of Coffee 2.0 is our platform to say: ‘we are ready, and we are here’.

“Over two days, Abuja will play host to an opening ceremony and high-level panel discussions, a fiercely contested national baristas’ championship, immersive exhibitions of coffee-themed art and installation, and a closing gala evening of awards and auctions all in service of a singular purpose: to build lasting commercial and cultural bridges between African and Arab creative, trade and diplomatic communities. Spirit of Coffee 2.0 welcomes the partnership of embassies and cultural missions, corporate institutions, private equity and investors, government at federal and state levels, and individuals of goodwill who share a conviction that Africa’s story is best told by Africans boldly, beautifully, and on our own terms.

“This is an invitation not merely to attend, but to belong: to stand among the founding patriots of a movement that will define African-Arab cultural and coffee commerce for generations to come.

On his part, the Secretary of Spirit of Coffee 2.0, Chief T.P.C. Benjamin mNGE, said: “Spirit of Coffee 2.0 is our answer to a simple but urgent question: what happens when Africa stops merely supplying the world’s tables and starts setting its own? This festival is a meeting point of heritage and enterprise, of art and industry, of Africa and the Arab world, and it is a statement that our culture, our craft and our commerce members of the world’s finest stage. We are not merely organising an event. We are building an institution that will outlive us, one that our children will inherit as a source of pride, opportunity and national identity.

“We invite every patriot, every institution and every partner who believes in a more prosperous, more visible Africa to stand with us.”

Further details, including partnership opportunities and programme information, are available at thespiritsofcoffee.com.

For more enquiries: Chief T.P.C. Benjamin mNGE Secretary +2348067788962 / chiefugonabu@gmail.com thespiritsofcoffee.com