Nairobi -based Nigerian promoter Ibikunle Adisa seeking to invest millions in classy events

Since setting his foot in Kenya nine years ago, Nigerian promoter Ibikunle Adisa fell in love with the country and has no plans of returning back home.

“I love Kenya, this is where I will be buried,” he tells Nation.Africa during the interview with a heavy Nigerian accent.

When he first came to Kenya in October 2013, he wasn’t really sure what kind of business he wanted to venture into.

“It took me a while to understand how things are run in Kenya. It was until October 2016 that I thought of joining the entertainment scene as a promoter.”

In 2017 he and a friend co-founded and registered B&S Entertainment and last year he founded and registered his own company Bruce Promotions in which he is the Chief Executive Officer.

His first show took place at a Nairobi club. He brought in top Nigerian AfroBeat artistes Mayorkun and Junior Boy.

“I knew the shows would help me gain ground here in Nairobi but that wasn’t the case,” he said.

But even with disappointments, Adisa has always believed in consistency.

Huge impact

“However, two events made stakeholders to start believing in my brand and that’s when I brought Naira Marley and Ruger in 2019 and 2021. These two shows made a huge impact and partnerships started flowing in, local promoters reached out for consultations,” he explains.

Right now Adisa or Bruce as he is famously known, feels he is at a good level as opposed to when he started but that hasn’t been without challenges.

“The language barrier is still an issue for me, people see me as a threat. Promoters here also don’t support each other’s events. It is common to see about two, three or four events being hosted on the same date. In Nigeria you will never witness such a scenario. If one promoter is having a show today, all will go to that concert and support it,” he says.

“Seeing my colleagues back in Nigeria taking our showbiz to Europe and USA gave me an idea to start the same in a different territory. I realised Kenya has the potential but things are not being done in the right way,” Bruce says.

He thinks he is the right man to bridge the gap by introducing the Nigerian Midas touch into the Kenyan showbiz industry.

Right path

“I can’t say the entertainment industry in Kenya is really on the path that I would love to see it, but we have a lot to do,” he added.

But what is his plan?

“For starters, we don’t need to have these crowd shows. We need to start selling experience by having posh shows. I don’t need thousands of people at my shows, such huge numbers can also be a security scare. I need four, five hundred people at my shows with different packages on offer. We sell tables of various premiums from the highest to the lowest. Revellers should be able to experience the entertainment you are selling to them.  With this model, you will find that a promoter will be making twice as much,” he explains.

He argues that, with this model, a promoter can never go wrong even if an artiste’s costs an arm and a leg.

His next show is set for July 2, 2022. The show will see the Sungba hit maker Asake perform at Diamond Plaza, Nairobi. A table of four will go for Sh50,000 with one bottle of champagne. The entrance will be Sh3,000. Those who cannot afford a table will have well set up seat space to enjoy the show and order drinks of their choice.

“I am cashing on ticket sales, as well as table sales, not forgetting the premium markup paid by the club for the business I will generate for them,” he says.

From this show in which he has invested Sh3 million to bring Asake from Nigeria, he is estimating to make double the amount at least in profit.

Adisa is also against the club appearance strategy that has always been employed by many promoters whenever a visiting star jets in Nairobi.

Financing concerts

“Club appearance reduces the number of people who would have attended the show,” he says.

Another game changer on Adisa’s sleeves is financing concerts all by himself rather than banking on sponsors.

“Sponsors are good but nobody will give you their money without conditions. For example a sponsor may opt to take the entire VIP section or only allow one brand of drinks to be served at the VIP or the event. This might cost you money because you need to give a party goer all possible options to spend. This is why I don’t fancy sponsorships, I like being in control of everything. If a concert will cost me Sh10 million and I don’t have it, then I will not dive into it until when I am able to raise that money,” he says.

In the last few years, he says he will have spent about Sh25 million on organising his fully sponsored concerts.

“In the next few years, I intend to put more money into organizing such classy events to try and raise the game a little bit higher in Kenya. I have a reservoir of about Sh50 million to achieve that. I would love to see more of such concerts because that way, we will grow the industry and create jobs for many people”

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