By: Kebba Ansu Manneh
Bakadaji Hotel has been confirmed as a sponsor of the 2026 Silicon Valley African Film Festival (SVAFF), the 17th edition of the California showcase, scheduled for 8–11 October in the United States.
The partnership is being billed as a first for a Gambian-based hotel at the festival, which brings African filmmakers, producers, artists and academics together with Silicon Valley audiences and technology companies. Festival organizers say the Kololi property will also host more than 30 filmmakers and celebrities expected to visit The Gambia next year as part of a planned “SVAFF Goes to Africa” program.
SVAFF founder and chief executive Chike C. Nwoffiah said the hotel’s role completes a circle the festival has been drawing for nearly two decades. “For 17 years, SVAFF has brought Africa to Silicon Valley through the lenses of African storytellers. Now, together with Bakadaji Hotel, we are completing that circle by bringing our community to Africa to see, feel, touch and experience the continent for themselves,” he told The Alkamba Times.
He said the journey would begin in The Gambia, “the Smiling Coast of Africa,” and that the partnership would showcase not only the country’s culture and heritage but also the professionalism of its hospitality industry. Officials at SVAFF described Bakadaji as the right venue for the program’s first historic African edition, citing its modern facilities, Gambian hospitality, and a team able to host an international group traveling from the United States. “They have embraced our vision not simply as a hotel hosting guests, but as true partners in creating an unforgettable experience of The Gambia,” Nwoffiah said.
The festival, held annually in Silicon Valley, screens work by established and emerging filmmakers from across Africa and the diaspora. The 2026 program features dozens of films from more than 30 countries and is designed to give African storytellers access to tech firms and international networks.
Bakadaji operations manager Abdurahman Barry said sponsorship would raise the hotel’s profile among upmarket and American travelers and allow it to display its name, logos, videos and other promotional material during the festival. He argued that the partnership would benefit not only the property but also The Gambia’s wider tourism industry, with hotel representatives promoting the country’s culture, food, heritage and hospitality. Visa difficulties, he added, may limit how many staff can travel to California.
Human resources manager Aji Marie Senghore said the hotel wanted to “initiate amazing things” for the tourism sector, not only for itself. “This kind of partnership would have been only a work for the GT Board, but Bakadaji took the initiative,” she said, adding that the move should encourage other hotels to build similar networks.
For Bakadaji, the deal is both branding and incoming business: a platform in California this October, and a high-profile group of guests on the Smiling Coast thereafter.
