Wherever you may be in the world, you'd struggle to find Nigerian bank CEOs hanging out in the same space as a French-Senegalese Golden Bear winner and a handful of African gallerists. On one Thursday evening in November, that constellation of African success gathered on the grounds of the Federal Palace Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, for the opening of the 2025 edition of the Art X fair.
For Art X founder Tokini Peterside-Schwebig, engaging with the elite of the Nigerian business world is nothing new. Before the first edition of the fair took place, she sought sponsorship from Access Bank, then led by legendary CEO Herbert Wigwe.
She had finished an MBA at France's INSEAD, and was seeking sponsorship for an art fair in her home country. As Tokini, as she is widely called, recalls, Wigwe had two main questions.
