FG Announces Partnership With UNWTO, CNN To Boost Creative Industry

The Federal Government on Monday announced a tripartite partnership
with the CNN and the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to boost
the Creative Industry in Nigeria, using the film industry as a pivot.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who
announced the partnership in Lagos on Monday, at the Creative Industry
Roundtable, said under the partnership, the film industry will be used
”as a lens through which we will project various aspects of the
Nigerian Culture, Tourism and similar areas”.

”We are kick-starting the project with a 13-episode production
showcasing the various stages in a movie production. These include the
choice of location, which will allow us to showcase the various
beautiful sceneries available in Nigeria; the choice of wardrobe that
will show the rich
options in the country’s fashion industry; the choice of sound track
that will highlight our rich music genres, the casting that will
showcase our abundant talents and the technical part that will provide
the platform to show that there is no camera and other gadgets that we
don’t have
here.

”As part of the project, we will also run a programme on CNN
showcasing the 20 Nigerians to watch in the Industry. The Nigerians to
be showcased will be selected by the industry players themselves to
ensure authenticity,” the Minister said.

He said the tripartite partnership, as well as the MoUs with the Tony
Elumelu Foundation, the Bank of Industry and the British Council, were
part of the efforts by the Federal Government to transform the
Creative Industry to a Creative Economy.

Alhaji Mohammed said that he organized the Creative Industry
Roundtable, which was well attended by industry players, to show the
Federal Government’s willingness to work with the private sector in
the transformation of the Creative Industry to a Creative Economy.

”This Administration has no doubt that the plan to transform the
Creative Industry to a Creative Economy must be driven by the private
sector. After all, it is self evident that the modest growth that has
been achieved in the Creative Industry so far, whether in films, music
or fashion, has been achieved in spite of the government. It therefore
stands to reason that with the government providing the necessary
enabling environment and the private sector in the driver’s seat, the
transformation can be realized within a short time,” he said.

The Minister said the Roundtable was not intended as another talk
shop, adding: ”The stakeholders who are here are already aware of the
problems mitigating against the seamless growth of the industry, hence
I don’t expect us to spend quality time here today rehashing those
problems. Instead, we should devote our time to seeking practical
solutions to the problems we have earlier identified at many fora.”

Alhaji Mohammed reiterated his earlier statement that the Creative
Industry is Nigeria’s new oil, saying statistics from other countries,
including the UK and the US, attest to this.

”The Creative industry contributed 84.1 billion Pounds Sterling to
the British economy in 2014. According to figures released by the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, that was an increase of 7
billion pounds on the year before. The figures also show that the
number of jobs in the industry grew by almost 9% between 2013 and 2014
– almost double the rest of the economy as a whole (4.6%). One of the
areas of strongest growth was in film, TV, video, radio and
photography, which rose almost 14%.

”In the United States, the Creative Industry, including Hollywood and
broadcasting, contributes more to the U.S. economy than previously
thought, the government said in its first official analysis of the
arts and culture sector’s economic value. The 2015 report from the
National Endowment for the Arts and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
shows arts and culture contributed more than 698 billion dollars to
the economy, which is about 4.32 percent of U.S. goods and services,” he said.

The Minister said the deliberations from the Roundtable would feed
into a larger event, the Creative Industry Financing Conference,
slated for 17-18 July at the Eko Hotel in Lagos.

”To highlight the importance attached to this sector by the Federal
Government, no less a personality than the Acting President, Prof.
Yemi Osinbajo, will declare that Conference open,” he said.