Here’s A Fresh Perspective On How Much Revenue Nollywood Generates Every Year

Nollywood On The Rise

Nigeria’s movie industry, popularly called Nollywood, is one of the world’s most recognised film industries alongside the U.S.A’s Hollywood and India’s Bollywood.

Nollywood is globally recognized as the second-largest film industry in the world. It is an integral part of the arts, entertainment and recreation sector that contributed NGN 239 Bn to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016.

And as such, it is quite fitting that the industry has just been revealed as turning in between USD 500 Mn and USD 1 Bn in revenue on a yearly basis, while also employing some 300,000 people directly and another 1 million people indirectly.

This was the revelation from Gainmore Zanamwe, Senior Manager, Intra-African Trade Initiative, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) at the 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in Lagos. 

Zanamwe had stated that movies from Nigeria recorded the highest patronage across the continent and was globally accepted, even in the diaspora.

Afreximbank Looking To Capitalise

The Afreximbank executive also made it known that the bank is actively seeking ways to work with the creative industry to encourage export of movies, music, fashion and other creative works of African origin to the rest of the world.

It was revealed that the bank has already rolled out plans to create a technology platform that will enable the aggregation and distribution of high-quality content from Nigerian and other African creators.

Zanamwe disclosed that the creative industry is at the heart of the Afreximbank Diaspora Strategy. This strategy, he offered, is aimed at exploring ways of mobilizing financial and technical resources from the diaspora to promote intra-African trade, as well as continent-wide development via technology transfer, trade links, investments, and skills.

Is Film Nigeria’s Next Big Export?

The apparent interest of the Afreximbank in the creative space in Nigeria is the latest in a chain of events that suggests the industry’s export potential is being taken seriously at the moment. Global streaming giants like Netflix are beginning to make moves too by snapping up several Nigerian films in recent months.

Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers Committee commenced the implementation of the NGN 22 Bn Creative Industry Initiative with the takeover of the National Theatre.

Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the CBN, stated that the Creative Industry Initiative, which is aimed at unlocking the creative talents of Nigerian youths, is designed to generate 800,000 jobs in the movie, music and fashion sectors, as well as and increase the revenue of the industry by USD 300 Mn.

Featured Image Courtesy: TVC News