GTCO Unveils Ninth Food and Drink Festival: A Global Stage for Nigerian Enterprise

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO Plc) has announced the return of its flagship culinary event, the GTCO Food and Drink Festival, which is set to transform the GTCentre in Lagos into a vibrant hub of innovation and enterprise this May Day bank holiday. Scheduled to run from Friday, 1st May to Sunday, 3rd May 2026, the ninth edition of the festival, themed “Everything Food and Drink,” aims to provide a culturally significant platform where storytelling and small business growth intersect.

The festival has evolved into a premier event for the African continent, attracting 6,000 applications for only 204 free retail spaces this year. To ensure a high-quality experience, organisers have implemented a rigorous selection process, maintaining a balance of approximately 90% new vendors to provide fresh opportunities for emerging businesses.

Speaking ahead of the 2026 edition, the Group Chief Executive Officer of GTCO Plc, Segun Agbaje, emphasised the festival’s continued evolution as both a cultural and economic enabler: “The GTCO Food and Drink Festival has, over the years, become a living expression of what we stand for as an institution: innovation, opportunity, and enterprise that is accessible to all. What makes this platform special is not just its scale, but its humanity. It brings together people from different walks of life around something universal—food and drink—and in doing so, it breaks barriers and builds connections that extend far beyond the event itself.”

Highlighting the vision behind the event, Oyinade Adegite, Chief Communication Officer of GTCO Plc, expressed the organisation’s excitement regarding the milestone edition:

“The food and drink platform is a global platform; it belongs to everyone, to be honest. So, I think that being the ninth one, we are very excited. The whole idea and the vision remain focused on promoting enterprise. It’s really about, and the bigger the better. It’s always about making a big impact. It’s about promoting Nigerians. We believe in Nigeria, in the Nigerian spirit, in Nigerian enterprise, and in our potential as a people. We believe in our capabilities.”

Beyond the marketplace, the festival will feature interactive masterclasses led by a curated list of chefs focused on local culinary adaptations. Oluwatosin Onabanjo, from Corporate Communications at GTCO Plc, who is part of the organising team, noted the unique atmosphere and educational aspect of the festival, saying:

“This year we have created a list of chefs who are actually very skilled when it comes to cooking. We’re not just talking about celebrity chefs or people that you know; you can attend the classes and find ways to, you know, see how they make what they’re cooking into Nigerian cuisine.”

As the event approaches its tenth anniversary, GTCO Plc continues to use the festival as a “living expression” of innovation and accessibility, breaking barriers and building connections through the universal language of food.