BY OLANIYI OLUGBENGA JOSEPH
The Federal Government has unveiled details of its bold and strategic plans to generate at least $100 billion and create over two million jobs from Nigeria’s creative economy yearly.
The government’s plan was unveiled on Wednesday by the Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, at a roundtaÂble for local and international investors where she presented her ministry’s 8-Point Plan and Roadmap.
Speaking at the event hosted by the ministry at in Ikoyi, the minister said that if implemented to its fullest, the plan has the poÂtential to achieve the above-stated objectives.
She listed the 8-Point Plan as follows: Nigeria Destination 2023, a national initiative designed to grow the arts, culture and creÂative economy under one unitÂed vision; Skills Development; Fast-track Policy Frameworks; Strategy Governance and ColÂlaboration; Smart Strategic Partnerships; Growth Targets for GDP Contribution & Sectoral Output; Enabling Business Environments, and Cultural Heritage Preservation and Sustainability. Â
She lamented that despite its huge potentials, Nigeria’s creative industry currently contributes just $5 billion to the economy, with its different sub-sectors at various stages of development.
The sectors include music (sound recording, live perforÂmances and music videos), viÂsual media (movies, TV shows, comedy shows, podcast, content creation), visual arts & craft (canÂvas painting, design, sculpturing, woodwork and other craft works), heritage & museums, culinary arts, fashion, publishing (books, literary arts, poetry, magazine, etc), and video gaming.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s creative economy has a very low contribution to overall GDP in comparison with benchmark countries, with the industry conÂtributing just 1.2% to Nigeria’s GDP in 2022, the least when comÂpared to other African countries like Morocco (2.7%), South Africa (3.0%), and Egypt (4.3%). It also ranks low (1.0%) in its ability to earn government revenue from the sector, compared to South AfÂrica’s 12.5%.
To achieve its ambition, MusaÂwa said the ministry has identiÂfied 14 pivotal initiatives that will drive the sector’s growth and significantly boost government revenue $10 billion – $20 billion.
She grouped these initiatives under four unique pillars, nameÂly: Technology, Infrastructure and Funding, International Culture Promotion, and Intellectual PropÂerty Monitisation.
Under the Technology pillar, the minister said the ministry intends to launch a digital conÂtent creation tool accessibility programme to provide improved and discounted digital tools for Nigerian creatives.
Others include the launch of the Nigeria content distribution initiative to increase the nationÂwide adoption of digital tools for content distribution, the launch of a study to estimate the size of the creative industry in Nigeria including a framework to size the market going forward, and the expansion of internet accesÂsibility in underserved regions in Nigeria to expand the reach of the other digital initiatives.
For Infrastructure and FundÂing, she said, this entails cataloguÂing existing infrastructure for the Arts, Culture and Creative EconÂomy and its current state, develÂoping the appropriate infrastrucÂture needed to the industry and leveraging public-private partnerÂship to fund development, providÂing incentives to stakeholders in the creative economy to boost investment and adoption of straÂtegic initiatives, and launching a creative accelerator programme to provide capital, and capacity building to creative companies.
Under International Culture Promotion, Musawa said the minÂistry would establish a culture promotion office collaborating with Nigerian embassies abroad, to promote Nigerian arts, culture and creative economy, and leverÂage AFCTA to boost Nigerian creÂative output export regionally and globally.
For Intellectual Property MonÂetisation, she said the ministry would seek to establish globally standardised CMOs (Collection Management Organisations) for most of the sectors, launch a Copyright Oversight Initiative in partnership with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to enhance tracking, monÂitoring, and enforcement of copyÂright standards, ensuring CMOs’ adherence to CISAC standards. It will also develop and implement the intellectual property frameÂwork and operationalise Nigeria’s IP licencing framework.
Musawa said that Nigeria’s creative economy has the poÂtential to grow by 400% by 2027, positioning the sector to leapfrog in the long term and deliver the vision for the sector.
She revealed that the ministry has already created several initiaÂtives and entered collaborations towards the realisation of its set goals.
She listed some of these iniÂtiatives to include, among others, the Creative Leap Acceleration Program, CultRise, an infrastrucÂture development initiative and Origins, an advanced data capÂture and management initiative designed to collect, store, analyse, and share critical data related to Nigeria’s cultural and creative industries.
The minister also listed some of the ministry’s infrastructure project pipelines, including the Digital & Immersive Art CenÂtre, the Renewed Hope Creative City at the Wole Soyinka Centre, Arts Village in Abuja, setting up of Creative Hubs in Nigeria’s 36 states, the National EntertainÂment Centre, Abuja Creative City, and the National Gallery of Art, among others.
To aid in the realisation of the government’s job creation target in the creative industry, the minisÂter disclosed that the ministry has entered a partnership with BigÂWin Philanthropy, a major interÂnational development partner, to deliver a transformative capacity building and job creation strategy.
The event featured a panel session involving the minister herself and top officials of the ministry including: Director-GenÂeral, National Council for Arts and Culture, Obi Azika; Principal Adviser to the Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Faiz Imam, and Managing DirecÂtor, Nigerian Film Corporation, Aliyu Nuhu.
