As part of the Aliko Dangote Foundation’s convening with the World Economic Forum in Lagos, Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, Founder and Artistic Director of SMO Contemporary Art, joined a distinguished conversation exploring the relationship between African cultural heritage, creativity and economic value.
The fireside conversation was moderated by Rewa and featured Femi Akinsanya, Sandra Mbanefo Obiago and Karabo Morule. The session formed part of a wider programme which brought together members of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders community to engage with different dimensions of Africa’s economic and creative potential.
The conversation considered what it means to move beyond seeing African culture solely as heritage to be preserved, and towards recognising cultural production as a living ecosystem capable of creating enduring social and economic value. Questions around investment, patronage, collecting, creative infrastructure and the retention of value within African cultural ecosystems were central to the discussion.
The setting itself reinforced these ideas. As part of the cultural programme, an Ijele masquerade from Onitsha was brought to Lagos, alongside paintings from Rewa's Embodied Spirits: Masquerades of Igboland series and a performance by three Agbogho Mmuo masquerades. The cultural presentation offered participants an opportunity to encounter African heritage not simply as an object of display, but as a living practice sustained by artists, makers, communities and systems of knowledge.
For Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, whose work spans contemporary art, curatorial practice, collecting and cultural storytelling, the conversation reflects SMO Contemporary Art’s longstanding interest in strengthening the creative ecosystem and expanding the ways African art is experienced, collected, documented and preserved. Her participation underscores the importance of placing African art and cultural production within broader conversations about investment, development and the future of the continent.
The conversation returned to a fundamental question: How can Africa create the structures that allow its cultural wealth and the people who create it to generate and retain lasting value?
Sandra Mbanefo Obiago Joins 'Behind the Glass: From Living Heritage to Lasting Value' at the Aliko Dangote Foundation-World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders Convening.
September 30, 2026
