Gathered at the 32nd annual meetings of Afreximbank, the leaders of the Nigerian creative industry discussed the theme ‘Content, Nigeria’s new oil’. With a market estimated to be worth nearly $15 billion by 2025, this sector, which already supports more than 4 million jobs, is today an essential lever for the Nigerian economy. But to sustain this growth, institutional support, training and the fight against piracy remain priorities.
Gathered in Abuja for the 32nd annual meetings of Afreximbank, the major players in the Nigerian creative industry discussed the theme: ‘Content, Nigeria’s new oil’. Supported by the C.R.E.A.M technology platform, the meeting highlighted a booming sector at the heart of the country’s economic ambitions. According to PwC, the Nigerian entertainment and media industry will be worth nearly $15 billion by 2025, thanks to the rise of Nollywood, the world’s second-largest film producer, and the global influence of Afrobeats.
“One of the things I found from engaging people is that people do not really know. They just know Afrixim Bank, which is a development finance institution, has something going and it’s trying to support the creative industry. The CANEX program was started about five years ago. It’s a creative African nexus. The idea behind it was to support the creative industries with a few different pillars. The first one being financing, since it’s a bank, and I’ll come back to that. The second one being capacity building.”
OSAHON AKPATA, Head of CANEX Creations – Nigeria
But behind the success, weaknesses persist. Despite providing 4.2 million jobs, contributing an estimated 154 billion naira to GDP in 2023 (or around USD 197 million) and forecasting the creation of 2.7 million new jobs by 2025, the sector remains hampered by a lack of funding, professional infrastructure and training facilities. Nigeria’s recent copyright law, passed in 2022, marks a step forward, but piracy and the lack of support for creators are still holding back the industrialisation of the sector. At the same time, monetisation on digital platforms remains insufficiently regulated.
“Access to funding has been one of the biggest issues for us. Talent is everywhere, but just like crude oil, the talent needs to be refined, and then you get byproducts such as film, movies, comedies, and access to funding has been so hard. So working with Afrixim Bank for close to a decade now, to be able to sign an equity deal partnership yesterday, brings everything that I’ve desired to part. Because now, not just me, but the whole industry, wherever you are, you don’t have to go through the stress that I went through to be able to access funding.”
DBANJ, CEO of CREAM Platform – Nigeria
Faced with these challenges, Afreximbank is stepping up initiatives through its Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, supporting the production, distribution and export of African cultural content. The challenge for Nigeria now is to transform this creative breeding ground into a structured economic lever, supported by ambitious public policies.
