WeLovEya 2025: TRACE panel brought together music pros in Cotonou
At the heart of WeLovEya's 4th edition, the media TRACE invited artists, agents and music professionals to a panel on digital transformation, on 29 December 2025 at Sofitel Cotonou Marina. The Amazon Square festival showed its other face: that of an appointment of the African music industry.
Cotonou, end of December 2025. As the Amazon Square vibrated at the pace of the concerts of the 4th WeLovEya, another meeting was held a few minutes away, at Sofitel Cotonou Marina: the panel of the media TRACE, dedicated to "The new dimension of TRACE — digital transformation at the service of creators and the general public".
The pros at the meeting
Around the table, Laurent Beuvin, Head of TRACE for France, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, and Joel Houenou, Sales Manager for English-speaking Africa. In front of them, an audience of artists, agents and professionals from the music, media and cultural industry, gathered in the Alibori and Donga rooms of the hotel, on December 29, 2025 at 2 p.m. The places were limited and the registration mandatory: a working format, not one more conference.
The festival, also an industry platform
This is the sign of a festival that goes beyond the festival: WeLovEya, born in 2022 and became Benin's largest Afro-urban event, now attracts media and actors from the music industry of the continent. For Beninese and West African creators, these meetings are a direct access to those who programme, broadcast and finance music.
The 5th edition of WeLovEya will be held on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 December 2026, still at the Amazon Square in Cotonou. Its programming is not yet published — but the 2025 edition, which brought together Wizkid, Davido, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Diamond Platnumz and Gims, has placed the bar very high.
Practical information
WeLovEya Festival, 5th edition: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 December 2026, Place de l'Amazon, Cotonou (Benin). The full festival sheet is on Festival TV .
— Moïse 1er, the Festival Explorer