09/15/2025
African Descents in Brazil to generate $250 Billion Cultural Market For Nigeria through Orisa Pilgrim
- Afro Brazilians of Yoruba stock.
Descendants of the Yoruba people, known in Brazil as the nagôs, have had a powerful and lasting cultural influence, especially in the northeastern state of Bahia. Their ancestors were brought to Brazil as forced labourers during the transatlantic slave trade and shaped many aspects of modern Afro-Brazilian identity.
Brazil, with a population of about 213 million, is home to an estimated 90 million people of Yoruba descent. For many, Yoruba culture remains a proud and central part of their identity. A significant number are Orisha worshippers, and for them, Nigeria—as the ancestral homeland—holds the same spiritual significance that Mecca holds for Muslims and Israel holds for Christians.
According to – Hon. Otunba Biodun Ajiboye
Executive Secretary/CEO, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel have successfully transformed religious pilgrimages into multi-billion-dollar industries that contribute significantly to their national economies. Nigeria has the potential to achieve the same. If properly structured, pilgrimages from Brazilian Yoruba Orisha worshippers alone could generate up to $250 billion for Nigeria.
All that is required is to provide vibrant Yoruba cultural festivals and heritage experiences within a well-developed tourist space—particularly across Ibadan, Ogun, and Osun States—for pilgrims and tourists to visit. With an investment of about $2 billion in infrastructure, this vision can become a reality.
Importantly, this estimate does not even include Yoruba adherents in other countries such as Cuba, Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, and other nations across South America and beyond.
Cc: African Report Files