Beyond Algorithms & Machines: Aké Festival Reclaims Africa’s Place In The Future Of Knowledge
‘Native Intelligence’: Aké Festival 2026 Challenges the Future of Artificial Intelligence
A festival built around a critical question
AS artificial intelligence increasingly shapes the way people create, communicate and access information, the 14th Aké Arts and Book Festival is preparing to examine a question with far-reaching cultural implications: whose intelligence is shaping the future?
Scheduled for Thursday 19 November to Saturday 21 November 2026, the festival will hold at the Silkwood Hotel, 261 Sobo Arobiodu Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos. This year’s theme, ‘Native Intelligence’, will guide discussions on African knowledge systems, technological development, creative expression and the preservation of cultural memory.
Through its programme, Aké will challenge the assumption that intelligence and knowledge exist only in information captured by books, databases and digital platforms. Instead, it will draw attention to the intellectual resources embedded in African oral traditions, proverbs, praise poetry, folklore, craftsmanship, rituals and community structures.
Much of this knowledge has survived through generations without necessarily entering formal archives or digital records. Yet, as artificial intelligence systems increasingly depend on recorded information, the absence of these traditions raises important questions about representation, cultural ownership and the future of knowledge production.
Consequently, the festival will explore how Africa can contribute its intellectual heritage to the technologies and creative systems shaping the modern world.
The intersection of technology, memory & imagination
Two Thursday panel discussions will provide the main entry points into the theme. ‘The Future of Creative Work with Artificial Intelligence’ will examine the implications of emerging technologies for creative professionals, while ‘Memory, Myth and the Machine’ will explore the relationship between traditional storytelling, cultural memory and technological innovation.
These conversations will bring together writers and specialists interested in how technology influences the production and preservation of knowledge.
The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) will also contribute to the programme through the 2026 Nommo Awards, which will be presented during the opening ceremony on Thursday 19 November. The awards recognise African speculative fiction and provide an important platform for writers working in the genre.
Three Aké 2026 guests have secured nominations for the Ilube Award for Best Novel. They are Nnedi Okorafor for One Way Witch, Marvellous Michael Anson for Firstborn of the Sun and Nkereuwem Albert for The Bone River.
Before the awards presentation, the society will convene a panel on artificial intelligence and creative work. Jerry Falade, Marvellous Michael Anson and Osahon Ize-Iyamu will participate, while Jude Umeh will moderate the discussion.
In another collaboration, the Caine Prize for African Writing will bring together past winners Irenosen Okojie and Rotimi Babatunde with Jowhor Ile for the session ‘Memory, Myth and the Machine’. Their participation will connect contemporary African storytelling with the festival’s broader examination of cultural memory and creative possibilities.
Celebrated authors bring diverse literary perspectives
The festival’s programme will feature several distinguished writers whose works have attracted international recognition and major literary awards.
Nnedi Okorafor, winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards, will discuss her new novel, Death of the Author, on Saturday 21 November. She will appear alongside Wole Talabi, author of The Fist of Memory, who received the 2024 Ilube Nommo Award for Best Novel for Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon.
Chika Unigwe will bring her experience as a recipient of the 2012 Nigeria Prize for Literature for On Black Sisters’ Street. Similarly, Rotimi Babatunde and Irenosen Okojie will participate as Caine Prize-winning writers, recognised for ‘Bombay’s Republic’ and ‘Grace Jones’ respectively.
Jowhor Ile, whose novel And After Many Days won the 2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature, will also feature prominently. Meanwhile, Roye Okupe, a Nommo Award winner for Iyanu, will contribute to a conversation on Nigerian comics and animation.
Together, these writers represent different strands of contemporary African literature, from speculative fiction and novels to short stories, comics and animation. Their participation will therefore broaden the festival’s exploration of how African experiences and imagination can influence global creative conversations.
Granta’s Nigeria edition receives special attention
Another major attraction will be the celebration of Granta 177: Nigeria, scheduled for Saturday 21 November.
The new Nigeria issue will bring together contributions from writers including Dipo Faloyin, Ngozi John and Sada Malumfashi. They will participate in a discussion titled ‘Nigerian Literature Today’, with Josie Mitchell as host.
The session will provide an opportunity to examine contemporary Nigerian writing, its changing concerns and its place in the wider literary landscape. Afterwards, attendees will join a reception celebrating the publication.
This collaboration adds another dimension to the festival’s commitment to promoting African writing and connecting local literary conversations with international publishing platforms.
Book launches examine community & personal experience
Aké 2026 will also provide space for new publications through two scheduled book presentations.
On Thursday 19 November, Ojoma Ochai will introduce Communities, Networks, Ecosystems: Why They Fail and How to Build Them. Tara Fela-Durotoye, author of Building Beyond You, will join her for the session, which Maryam Laushi will host.
The discussion will examine questions surrounding community development, networks and the structures that sustain collective progress.
Saturday’s programme will feature Khadija Yusra Sanusi’s debut book, The Most Unremarkable Things. She will share the presentation with Chika Unigwe, author of Grace, while Amyn Bawa-Allah will moderate.
Through these presentations, the festival will give readers direct access to authors and their ideas while creating opportunities for conversations that extend beyond the pages of their books.
Evening entertainment keeps the festival alive
The organisers have also designed an evening programme that combines literature, film, music and poetry. Although the daytime panel sessions will end at 5:30 p.m., attendees can return after dinner for additional activities, all of which will offer free access to the evening entertainment.
On Thursday, Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka will present a screening of How to Build a Library, with Mazeedah Olutosin hosting. Friday’s entertainment will feature a performance by Savy Henry.
Furthermore, the festival will introduce late-night storytelling sessions at 10 p.m. on both evenings. Khadija Yusra Sanusi will read on Thursday, while Nkereuwem Albert will lead Friday’s session. The organisers have described the informal arrangement as an opportunity to enjoy stories in a relaxed setting, with pyjamas optional.
For Saturday’s closing celebration, Wana Udobang will host ‘Palm Wine and Poetry’. The event will feature performances by Dami Ajayi, Abdulkareem Baba-Aminu, Chukky Ibe, Maryam Bukar and D’bi Anitafrica.
The combination of literary discussions and evening performances reflects the festival’s effort to make literature accessible through several forms of artistic expression.
Supporting readers & sustaining literary culture
Beyond its programme of discussions and performances, the festival will also support reading through 100 book grants funded by the Lagos State Governor. Each grant is valued at ₦20,000, and interested applicants can access the designated application channel.
The Lagos State Government, Sterling Bank and Open Society Foundations are supporting the 2026 edition.
Meanwhile, online registration closed on 9 November. However, organisers have confirmed that attendees can still purchase tickets at the venue during the festival.
Media organisations seeking accreditation or additional information can contact the organisers through comms@bookbuzzfoundation.org.
Lola Shoneyin, Founder and Director of the Aké Arts and Book Festival, said the organisers remained committed to improving the experience with each edition.
“The plan is to outdo ourselves every year. This year will be no different,” she said.
Reclaiming Africa’s place in the knowledge conversation
Ultimately, ‘Native Intelligence’ goes beyond a discussion about artificial intelligence. It invites a broader examination of whose experiences, histories and intellectual traditions receive recognition in the systems that increasingly influence human life.
For Africa, the challenge involves more than celebrating cultural heritage. It also requires documenting, preserving and making indigenous knowledge accessible without stripping it of its context or reducing its complexity.
By bringing writers, artists, technologists and cultural thinkers together, Aké 2026 will create a platform for examining these questions from different perspectives.
The festival’s central message is therefore both cultural and technological: the future of intelligence should not be built exclusively on what machines can retrieve from existing records. It should also recognise the knowledge that communities have preserved through memory, creativity, experience and generations of shared wisdom.
