Film industry projected to rake $14.82b by 2025
The Vice-Chancellor (VC), University of Abuja (UNIABUJA), Prof AbdulRasheed Na’Allah, has said Nollywood can turn around Nigeria’s economic fortune, calling on the government’s support to boost the film industry.
This comes as a report by the Nigerian Entertainment Conference (NECLive) revealed that the Nigerian entertainment industry would rake an estimated $14.82 billion in revenue by next year.
Speaking at a three-day conference in Abuja, yesterday, in honour of visiting lecturer, Prof Onookome Okome of the Department of English and Film Studies, University of Alberta, Canada, the VC tasked the Federal Government to support Nollywood. This, he emphasised, would boost the nation’s economy in leaps and bounds.
With the theme, ‘Decolonising African Cinema in the Age of Media Streaming’, the event had in attendance practitioners in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
Na’Allah attributed the success of Nollywood (the second largest film industry in the world) to the hard work of practitioners, who put in their best in movie making.
The VC said, “Nollywood can turn around the fortunes of the Nigerian economy. The government must understand that now. It is in the interest of the government to know that film industries are multi-million-dollar ventures. They can create wealth.
“From all over the world, people are watching Nollywood. People are beginning to know Nigeria through Nollywood. Is it our music, film, cultural dance, or language? We are taking the world by surprise, and because it is going to Japan, China and America, it is creating foreign reserves for Nigeria.”
He cited Netflix, which is showing Nollywood movies regularly, adding: “If you fly any airline today, and you go to watch a movie, you will see the African movie right there.”
That is a lot of money coming to Nigeria. So, I think the government has to create more support for Nollywood and it will change fortunes in terms of the economy.”
On his part, Okome, a pioneer writer about Nollywood, expressed delight at being hosted by the university. According to the scholar, for the very first time, Nigeria, through Nollywood “created the knowledge and gave it back to the Europeans.”
The Guardian reports that a story by NECLive entitled ‘Growth, Trends and Opportunity in Nigerian Creative and Entertainment Industry’ revealed that Nollywood is projected to earn about $14.82 billion in 2025. Founder of NECLive, Ayeni Adekunle, said the projections were based on the Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023-2027, by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
