The Federal Government of Nigeria sets an ambitious goal to generate $100 billion in revenue from the country’s booming creative economy, aiming to tap into sectors like film, music, and digital content.

The strategic plans of the Federal Government to generate a minimum of $100bn and establish over two million job opportunities annually from Nigeria’s creative economy have been revealed.

On Wednesday, during a roundtable for local and international investors in Ikoyi, Lagos, the government’s plan was presented by Hannatu Musawa – the Minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy. The eight-point outline along with a roadmap were introduced to attendees at this event.

Musawa expressed disappointment that Nigeria’s creative industry, despite its vast potential, only makes a meager contribution of $5bn to the economy. Its various sub-sectors are at different stages of development.

According to her, the National Bureau of Statistics’ statistics reveal that Nigeria’s creative economy makes a significantly smaller contribution to its overall GDP when compared with other benchmark nations. Specifically, in 2022, this industry accounted for only 1.2% of Nigeria’s GDP – by far the lowest among African countries such as Morocco (with a figure of 2.7%), South Africa (3%) and Egypt (4.3%).

Additionally, she observed that Nigeria’s capacity to generate government revenue from the sector was significantly lower at 1.0 percent as opposed to South Africa’s 12.5 percent.

Musawa stated that the ministry has pinpointed 14 crucial ventures which will propel the sector’s expansion and elevate government income by $10bn – $20bn in order to fulfill its aspirations.

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She categorized these initiatives into four distinct pillars: technology, funding and infrastructure, promotion of international culture, and monetization of intellectual property.

The minister detailed strategies for empowering Nigerian artists by offering better-priced digital resources, introducing the Nigeria Content Distribution Initiative, conducting a research to gauge the magnitude of the creative sector and broadening internet accessibility in underprivileged areas as means of bolstering these measures.

She explained that addressing infrastructure and funding for the Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy requires several steps. First, it involves identifying and assessing current infrastructure resources available to this industry. Next comes developing suitable infrastructural facilities according to industry requirements while also partnering with public-private initiatives for raising adequate funds. Additionally, she mentioned incentivizing stakeholders involved in creative economy businesses through strategic investments along with launching a creative accelerator program aimed at providing capital infusion alongside capacity building programs tailored specifically towards boosting development among these startups.

Musawa stated that as part of their efforts to promote international culture, the ministry will collaborate with Nigerian embassies overseas to set up a culture promotion office. The goals of this initiative are twofold: firstly, it aims to market and publicize various aspects of Nigeria’s art and creative economy; secondly, using AFCTA as a tool for expansion into other regions across the world.

Musawa stated that the ministry aims to standardize collection management organizations worldwide for various sectors in order to monetize intellectual property. Additionally, a copyright oversight initiative will be launched alongside the Nigeria Communications Commission in an effort to improve tracking, monitoring and enforcement of copyright standards.

Musawa plans to create and execute the intellectual property framework, as well as put Nigeria’s IP licensing structure into operation.

According to Musawa, Nigeria’s creative economy has the capacity for a 400% growth by 2027. This projection places the sector in an advantageous position to surge ahead and bring its vision into fruition over time.

In addition, she disclosed that the Ministry has established multiple undertakings and engaged in partnerships to achieve its defined objectives.