LAGOS BUSINESS ANGELS

By Haug / Kaegi / Wetzel

According to Goldman Sachs, Nigeria will have overtaken France, South Korea und Canada on the list of the most important national economies by 2050 and will be 10th to 11th on that list, just behind Japan, Germany and Great Britain. Lagos is one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. Crude oil and other abundant raw materials guarantee a flow of currency into the country. And yet European investors still hesitate. They are far more cautious than their Chinese competitors in approaching a country where the power supply regularly breaks down, where corruption is the order of the day, and where financial fraud is the third-largest source of foreign exchange income. But all that may now be changing.

Are you running a business and keen on international exchange? Ready to explore a new market and willing to reflect on your market strategies in front of an European audience? These were the key questions in the call for proposals made by the theatre collective, which subsequently gathered about 40 Nigerian business men and women around a table in Lagos.

Femi grew up in a slum and first made money as a street vendor in the never-ending traffic jams of Lagos. Now he and his four employees produce over 100 designer shoes a month and can hardly keep up with the demand of a fashion-hungry market. Biyi coaches people in the area of human resources subsequently placing them in positions in a labour market greedy for well-trained, skilled personnel. She is coming to Europe to recommend reliable Nigerian employees to companies. Dolapo has already developed numerous real estate projects from the ground up in Lagos. He is now seeking investors in Europe to help him build flats in the mid-priced segment, because in Nigeria, where on average 7 people share a single room, rental prices are soaring. Jude analyses companies listed on the often untransparent Lagos stock exchange and scrutinises their company reports so as to advise potential investors in Nigeria. And you will seldom find a Nigerian business booming as much as the church. In Lagos Pastor Victor has built up a small congregation, which flocks to him every Sunday for spiritual reinforcement. He is coming on a 'crusade' to Europe to deliver spirit and sermons to believers and non-believers here as investments for the future.

The cast of five Nigerian business people meet five of their European counterparts from such diverse backgrounds as painting supplies, car dealership, the oil business, the import of tropical fish, fashion, further education and anti-corruption. All of them want to convince as “business angels” with their self-confidence, entrepreneurial spirit, their creativity and a lot of courage in taking risks with a view to get orders in from the audience. In a space between money and mind, roles will be redefined on the post-colonial market of prejudices and business plans - an astonishing trade fair for biographies and visions emerges.

Script / Directors: Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi, Daniel Wetzel
Based on an idea by Dorothee Wenner

With 
Oludolapo Ajayi 
Victor Eriabie 
Jude Fejokwu 
Silke Hagen-Jurkowitsch 
Uwe Hassenkamp
Enwelu Ifeanyi (Video) 
Oluwafemi Ladipo 
Frank Okoh 
Olabiyi Olugbodi
Kester Peters
Frieda Springer-Beck

Stage design: Silke Bauer
Research / Dramaturgy: Martin Baierlein
Musical director / Composition: Barbara Morgenstern
Assistant director: Jessica Páez
Interns: Ludmilla Ebert, Jens Lassak, Ilona Marti
Research / Coordination Lagos: Steph Ogundele
Assistance Lagos: Emeka Bob-Anyeji
Camera: Bernd Meiners, Yinka Edwards
Video editor: Rebecca Riedel
Graphic design: Ilona Marti
Technical director: Patrick Tucholski
Light design: Patrick Tucholski, Sebastian Zamponi
Video engineer: Bodo Gottschalk
Sound engineer: Torsten Schwarzbach
Producer: Katja Sonnemann

A Rimini Apparat production co-production with Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, the Goethe Institut Nigeria, Kampnagel Hamburg and Kunstenfestivaldesarts 2012. With funding subsidies provided by the Capital Cultural Fund (Hauptstadtkulturfonds) and the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery – Cultural Affairs.
Developed in cooperation with the DramaConsult film project.