Tag: Oniru

GTCO Food and Drink Festival 2026 Presents “Everything Food and Drink”

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO Plc) is pleased to announce the 9th edition of the GTCO Food and Drink Festival, scheduled to hold from Friday, May 1st to Sunday, May 3rd, 2026, at GTCentre, Plot 1 Water Corporation Drive, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos.

This year’s theme, “Everything Food and Drink,” captures the expansive nature of the Festival experience. It reflects not only the variety of cuisines on display but also the depth of stories behind them. Over the years, the GTCO Food and Drink Festival has grown far beyond a seasonal celebration to become a culturally significant platform where food and drink serve as a meeting point for storytelling, innovation, and opportunity. The Festival will feature 204 free retail stalls, showcasing the rich diversity and creativity of our food culture; from time-honoured traditional dishes preserved across generations, to bold contemporary interpretations of global cuisine, creating space for every flavour, every technique, and every craving to find expression.

Visitors can expect a rich programme featuring interactive masterclasses, live culinary demonstrations, food and wine tastings, and a vibrant marketplace showcasing small and medium-scale food businesses alongside established culinary brands. In addition to its wide range of food and drink offerings, the GTCO Food and Drink Festival is renowned for its family-friendly atmosphere, with a well-equipped play area and a variety of engaging activities for children, ensuring an unforgettable experience for the whole family.

Speaking ahead of the 2026 edition, the Group Chief Executive Officer of GTCO Plc, Segun Agbaje, emphasized 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.”

Since inception, the GTCO Food and Drink Festival has positioned itself as one of Africa’s most prominent culinary gatherings, attracting participation from across Nigeria and increasingly from the wider continent and diaspora.

Admission remains free and open to all, reaffirming the Festival’s commitment to accessibility as a consumer-focused event that brings people together through food, drink, culture, and enterprise.

April 22, 2026
Africa’s Finest: 6th Edition of The GTCO Fashion Weekend Holds in November

The Fashion Industry is in for another exciting experience as the GTCO Fashion Weekend returns for its 6th edition in November. The highly anticipated event is scheduled to hold on November 11th and 12th, 2023, at the GTCentre, Plot 1 Water Corporation Drive, Oniru, Lagos.

The GTCO Fashion Weekend is an annual consumer-focused fair designed to showcase the best of Africa’s Finest fashion to a global audience. Over the years, the event has firmly established its place as an incubator for diverse talent, creativity, and enterprise in fashion retail, bringing together some of Africa’s prominent fashion brands alongside relatively newer labels to interact with universally celebrated fashion icons and engaging style personalities. In keeping with tradition, this year’s event will feature insightful masterclasses and thrilling runway shows together with free stalls for over 120 fashion retailers. Colourful façades, lively music, and a delightful ambience are popular elements of GTCO fairs and work together to create a multisensory, thoroughly fulfilling experience for all attendees.

Speaking on the 2023 GTCO Fashion Weekend, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Segun Agbaje, said; “Fashion is not just about making items of clothing or style accessories, it is about exploring feelings and channelling creative expressions to create experiences that resonate with various buyers, across different markets. The GTCO Fashion Weekend is constantly evolving to reflect the rapid growth of the global fashion industry in terms of size and sophistication, as we continue to draw on the endless possibilities in fashion retail to create better outcomes for individuals, indigenous businesses, and our communities.”

He further said; “The landscape for fashion design is always shifting; so too consumer needs. The 2023 GTCO Fashion Weekend provides a unique opportunity for local fashion retailers to seize on emerging trends and buyers’ preferences to reposition their businesses and thrive amidst the uncertainties and complexities of the future.”

The GTCO Fashion weekend is one of the main platforms of Guaranty Trust Bank for ‘Promoting Enterprise’ primarily to benefit its growing retail and SME customer base as well as support the indigenous Creative Industry. Guaranty Trust Bank is the flagship subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, a leading financial services company providing banking and non-banking services across eleven countries spanning West Africa, East Africa, and the United Kingdom. The Group operates a diversified, ‘Proudly African’ franchise and is renowned for its innovative approach to customer service and stakeholder engagement, especially through its non-profit, consumer-focused fairs and capacity building initiatives for small businesses, which has endeared the GTCO brand to millions of people across Africa and beyond.

For more information on this event, please visit, https://fashionweekend.gtcoplc.com

Attendance is FREE.

September 21, 2023
2023 GTCO Food and Drink Festival: A Celebration of Food

The annual GTCO Food & Drink Festival is back again for its 6th Edition, and food lovers across Africa and the world are in for a feast like never before! The event is slated to hold from Saturday April 29th till Monday May 1st 2023, at GTCentre, Plot 1 Water Corporation Drive, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos, providing a 3-day weekend of food and endless celebration.

The GTCO Food & Drink Festival brings together the greatest minds on the global culinary stage, the most industrious Nigerian small food business owners, a world class, state-of-the-art children’s play area, merging them all to give attendees the most memorable food and drink event.

Commenting on the 2023 GTCO Food and Drink Festival, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Segun Agbaje, said; “Food and drink are intrinsically social things, and best enjoyed when shared. We understand the value of bringing together businesses and consumers who are passionate about food and have continued to inspire new ways to experience life through food and drink. The continuing success of our free-business platforms reflect our unchanging commitment to Promoting Enterprise and echoes our brand promise of creating Great Experiences.”

Constantly innovating the space and on a quest to continue creating great experiences for all stakeholders, GTCO Food & Drink will be expanding its capacity by creating more opportunities for more businesses and increasing its highly coveted vendor stalls from 142 to 204, giving even more innovative and assiduous business owners the chance to not only showcase their businesses to the over 250,000 foodies in attendance, but also engage with their customer base and learn from a confluence of other great-minded food entrepreneurs. The event will also feature three premier DJs in Africa, setting the scene for a weekend of celebration, food, drink, and togetherness.

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc is a leading financial services company providing banking and non-banking services including payments, wealth management, and pension fund management, with a presence across eleven countries spanning West and East Africa as well as the United Kingdom. The Group operates a diversified, Proudly African franchise and is renowned for its innovative approach to customer service and stakeholder engagement which has endeared the brand to millions of people across Africa and beyond. Over the years, many customers have benefited from its unique loan products including the Food Industry Credit and Fashion Industry Credit designed specifically for businesses in the food and fashion industry.

It’s time once again to come together and celebrate the great joys food has to offer! Attendance is FREE. For more information on the event, please visit: https://foodanddrink.gtcoplc.com

March 20, 2023
Fashion is Coming! Experience Africa’s Finest Fashion at the 2022 GTCO Fashion Weekend

Fashion and style enthusiasts around the world can once again look forward to experiencing unparalleled fashion moments at the 2022 Guaranty Trust (GTCO) Fashion Weekend scheduled to hold on November 12th and 13th, 2022, at the GTCentre, Plot 1, Water Corporation Drive, Oniru, Lagos.

Guaranty Trust Fashion Weekend is a free business platform that combines elements of global fashion trends, the delicate nuances of African streetwear styles, and human creative enterprise to create one of the most delightful experiences in fashion retail. Over the years, the event has brought together universally celebrated fashion icons and engaging style personalities to interact with young Africans who are passionate about fashion. This year’s event will feature masterclasses, runway shows, free retail stalls, and a streetwear village. All-comers are in for an immersive shopping experience as indigenous small businesses showcase their fashion collections and style accessories.

Commenting on the 2022 GTCO Fashion Weekend, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Segun Agbaje, said; “We have kept our vision of supporting Small and Medium Enterprises in focus through the uncertain times of the past 2 years. Just like our core values as a financial institution, our promise of Promoting Enterprise will never change. We will continue to lend the full weight of our franchise to improving the lives and livelihoods of every African, not only through servicing the full range of our customers’ financial needs with innovative products and services, but also by creating and championing initiatives that help businesses and economies thrive.”

He further stated that; “Fashion is primarily a form of self-expression, and in light of everything that has happened since our last Fashion Weekend event in 2019, we are happy to be able to explore the possibilities within the fashion industry locally and abroad, particularly as people increasingly return outdoors and get to experiment with new fashion and style ideas.”

Guaranty Trust Bank is the flagship subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, a leading financial services company providing banking and non-banking services across eleven countries spanning West Africa, East Africa, and the United Kingdom. The Group operates a diversified, proudly African franchise and is renowned for its innovative approach to customer service and stakeholder engagement, especially through its non-profit, consumer-focused fairs and capacity building initiatives for small businesses, which has endeared the brand to millions of people across Africa and beyond.

The GTCO Fashion Weekend is critically acclaimed as one of the main events in Africa’s fashion circuit and its 5th edition is sure to entertain.

October 1, 2022