Creative Industry
Support for Creative Industry, Best Way To Solve Youth Unemployment – Minister
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, has stressed the need for governments in Africa to invest in the Creative Industry as a way of solving youth unemployment and boosting the creative talent of youths.
The Minister, who made the remarks while briefing journalists on the just-concluded Annual General Meeting of the Afreximbank in Cairo,Egypt, where the Creative Industry featured prominently, said such support should be in form of providing grants for the sector and building Creative Industry infrastructure such as event places,cinemas, internet connectivity and cheap data.
According to him, what we find lacking in the Creative Industry really is thatgovernments across the continent need to do more than what we aredoing now.
They need to create infrastructure we are not just talking about roads or bridges or airports but Creative Industry Infrastructure, both hardware and software.
”We have the population, we have the talents, we need infrastructure,we need government grants,” said Alhaji Mohammed, who was a panellists at a session of the Afreximbank AGM that was dedicated to the Creative Industry.
He said with a high population of youths, most of whom are unemployed,the Creative Industry holds great potential for Africa because it’s a limitless and renewable resource capable of creating wealth and employment.
The Minister said the continental bank has floated a $500 million Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Fund designed to boost African Creative Industry and the Media, including digital innovators and experts,fashion, film and music.
He said for the Creative Industry to thrive, governments on the continent should explore avenues for long term grants, capacity building and provision of infrastructure, adding: ”You cannot grow the Creative Industry with debt.”
Alhaji Mohammed also said all the available instruments at the moment cannot grow the Creative Industry, and that what is needed is ‘patient money’.
”What we need is for venture capital firms to invest more in the Creative Industry. This is because out of the $1 billion venture capital investment in Nigeria in 2021, just 1 per cent went to the Creative industry,” he said.
The Minister said with a population of about 52 million young people (between the ages of 18 and 35), who are hugely talented, and the digital revolution which provides internet access for about 104million people and also with about 33 million Social Media users,Nigeria’s Creative Industry is like a gold mine and, when properly harnessed, would serve as the country’s new oil.
He expressed delight that Nigeria is far ahead of some of its peers on the continent in appreciating the potential of the Creative Industry and making policies towards enhancing the contribution of the sector to economic growth.
“I am proud to say that when we were in Cairo, I was able to thump my chest and say that Nigeria is doing the right thing. One example I cited is the collaboration between the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria/Bankers’ Committee that will bring a brand new National Theatre, which will also have four hubs for music, ICT, fashion and film.
“We are actually creating a creative and entertainment centre, which is going to employ many people and stop capital flight because you can now do the post-production for your film and music right here in Nigeria,” the Minister said.
Alhaji Mohammed, who also mentioned the floating of the $50 million Creative Industry Financial Initiative by the Central Bank, promised to engage the apex bank to ensure that the fund is accessible to the Creative Industry players.
He also harped on the need to improve on the collation, analysis and interpretation of data on the contribution of the Creative Sector to the GDP so that policy makers, development partners and other experts can make a case for favourable policies and funding for the industry.
Creative Industry
FG Backs MyCityApp Launch of 100-Day Tourism Calendar to Drive $100bn Economic Growth
Joel Ajayi
The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind the launch of MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform designed to aggregate festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences into a single digital calendar.
The platform, which flags off the 100-Day Tourism Calendar, was unveiled on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the initiative targeting Nigeria’s estimated $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.
In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Media and Publicity Adviser to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the ministry said the conference was aimed at mobilising public and private stakeholders to transform the September-to-December festive period into jobs, investment and economic growth.
Speaking at the unveiling, the Minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said millions of visitors travel across Nigeria every year to celebrate, reconnect and experience the country’s diverse culture, stressing that the festive season could be deliberately organised and monetised to strengthen tourism’s contribution to the economy.
“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar,” Musawa said.
She noted that every visitor generates economic activity across several sectors, including aviation, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans and local communities.
The Minister commended MyCityApp Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Ifeoma Chukwu, for her vision and commitment to the initiative.
She urged state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to list their festivals, concerts, exhibitions, food experiences, cultural celebrations, fashion and sporting events on the national calendar.
Musawa said the platform would enable Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors to discover tourism and entertainment experiences across the country from a single, credible source.
Earlier, Chukwu said Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and creative sector provided enormous opportunities for tourism-driven economic growth.
She cited the contributions of tourism to the economies of countries such as Spain, France and the United States, arguing that Nigeria could equally build a $100 billion tourism economy.
Also present were Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke; NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika; National Gallery of Art Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi; ARCON Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo; and MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr Karl Toriola.
MyLagosApp and MyCityApp will serve as the digital engines of the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to audiences in Nigeria and the diaspora.
Stakeholders were encouraged to upload their events on MyCityApp to participate in the national tourism calendar urging them to upload events on http://www.MyCityApp.io.
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