Home » TRAVEL EVENT NEWS » The Luminous Dawn Of African Tourism: Ipada Celebration Of Heritage And Prosperity In Lagos Published on
November 16, 2025For more than four decades, a substantial presence has been maintained by Wanle Akinboboye, president of the globally recognized La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, within the Nigerian and broader African hospitality space. Throughout this extensive period, profound impacts have been generated by his pioneering efforts. Not only was the development of the La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort brand overseen, which holds the distinction of being the first-ever African-themed beach resort, but also numerous impactful innovations were conceived and introduced. Among these critical innovations is the Agro Ecotourism Heritage Resort Brand, alongside the annually anticipated Ipada Celebration initiative, which was successfully launched in a previous year.The Strategic Rationale for Continental UnityIt is understood that the sheer size of Africa, encompassing 30.3 million square kilometers of area, alongside its massive resident population of approximately 1.5 billion people, presents an unmatched potential. When this resident figure is combined with the influential global diaspora, which includes an additional 120 million people in Brazil, over 30 million in the Caribbean, and nearly 49 million in the United States of America, in addition to the over 2 million identified ‘lovers of Africa’, the resulting economic power that could be leveraged is immeasurable. Despite this inherent wealth in both natural resources and human capital, a cohesive strategy for unity has historically been lacking, which is believed to be the continent’s most significant hurdle.Advertisement Nigeria’s Role as the Gateway to the ContinentThe strategic solution proposed involves the various African nations coming together to present Africa on a unified platter. A seamless gateway through which people of African descent and devoted lovers of the continent can connect with the mainland must be established, and Nigeria has been chosen as the ideal nation to serve this purpose. The country is widely regarded as the powerhouse of the continent, possessing an area of approximately 923,677 square kilometers and a vast population exceeding 250 million people.Nigeria’s economic standing is considered appropriate for this leadership role, being the biggest economy with a $500 billion GDP, and with ambitious efforts now being directed toward achieving a $1 trillion GDP. It is believed that by combining these attributes, a compe …
