Starting this year, the Cigar Smoking World Championship will be a part of the newly started Lagos Cigar Festival in Nigeria. The first edition was held in the Nigerian capital on December 27 of last year. Not only was it the first premium cigar festival ever on the West African coast, it’s also the first large-scale African festival, according to the CSWC organization. When the festival is held on December 27 and 28 later this year, CSWC will be there to help it grow.
“This groundbreaking debut successfully positioned Lagos as a strategic gateway for the premium cigar industry’s expansion into Africa,” says CSWC founder, Marko Bilic. “It’s projected to expand significantly in scale, international participation, and global brand integration, and to achieve this goal, we will support the event by hosting the first-ever CSWC qualifier in Nigeria.”
The Lagos Cigar Festival was founded by importer and distributor, Source Cigars, and its owner, Francis Omene.
“Francis is a true cigar ambassador for Nigeria and all of Africa, and the principal driving force behind the festival’s vision and international positioning,” Bilic continues. “The platform was established to unite cigar aficionados, international brands, distributors, and luxury lifestyle stakeholders within a structured African framework.”
The CSWC founder also underlines the connection being made between Lagos Cigar Festival and the German trade fair, InterTabac.
“With Intertabac’s involvement, the Lagos Cigar Festival is set to reach unprecedented heights,” he says. “As Africa’s largest commercial city and one of its fastest-growing luxury markets, Lagos offers a dynamic and commercially strategic environment for premium cigar brands seeking structured entry into the African market. This collaboration creates the perfect recipe for a major cigar boom.”
