Minister Hannatu Musawa Outlines 8-Point Plan For Nigeria’s Creative Economy

The Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy minister, Barrister Hannatu Musawa, has outlined an eight-point plan to boost the Nigerian entertainment and creative sector.

An official statement released Monday on behalf of the Minister by Ms. Maryam Ahman, an official in charge of Destination 2030, highlighted the minister’s vision to make Nigeria the world’s creative, cultural and entertainment capital.

Since 2015, the Nigerian creative industries have been tipped to become a significant revenue generator for the country.

Specifically, in the same year, Nigeria’s GDP amounted to N94.14 trillion ($308.6 billion), with the creative industries jointly contributing about N5 trillion ($16.4 billion).

In 2021, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, also said the creative industry was worth $4.5 billion. However, the value as of today has almost doubled.

To further accelerate the economic potency of the creative industry, the minister promises to provide the necessary tools to enable the continuous growth of entertainment, art and culture.

It read, “We will deliver job opportunities and foster foreign partnerships and local collaborations that proudly exhibit our rich and unique national identity on a local and global stage, and we will elevate our nation’s economic standing.”

The statement disclosed that aside from the ministry’s eight-point plans, multiple initiatives and projects are planned, such as creative hubs and a Nigeria cultural expo.

The projects include a national entertainment centre, a national art gallery, innovative publishing partnerships and a gaming sandbox project.

“We are building a global standard film festival, a culinary academy led by a Michelin star chef and a fashion foundry,’’ the minister said.

The first agenda on the eight-point list is Nigeria Destination 2030, a national initiative to grow the arts, culture and creative economy under one united vision.

Aside from growing the creative economy, the initiative aims to position Nigeria as Africa’s creative capital.

Here, the minister promises to deliver more jobs, inbound visitors, and local opportunities to enhance the development of all creative sectors.

Highlighting other listed plans, the statement partly read, “Fastrack the improvement, creation and implementation of policy frameworks that effectively stimulate increased revenue generation, job creation, and sustainable growth across the entire sector.”

“Our Collective Success Requires Focused Strategy, Governance, and Collaboration. Our team is developing a comprehensive and effective strategy for the arts, culture, and creative economy.”

Similarly, the minister noted that innovative strategic partnerships are required to achieve the set goals faster.

As such, the fifth point in the agenda is to facilitate the creation of Public-Private partnerships that will stimulate investment in the creative economy and expedite the development of critical infrastructure, technology, and innovation hubs.

Creating an enabling business environment by thriving on technology takes the seventh spot while preserving Nigeria’s cultural heritage and sustainability takes the last place on the plan.

In the statement, the minister disclosed that two parties inspired the plan to grow the creative economy better than it was.

She noted, “It is a mandate from the presidency and the people to grow this sector, creating new jobs, new revenue, a firmer policy framework, and supporting new creations & artistic expressions of our greatest resource, The Nigerian People.”

While highlighting that the creative economy is an economy of ideas, innovation, and invention in the digital age, the minister called for collaborative efforts from stakeholders nationwide.

Conclusively, she emphasised that a strong creative and cultural economy is a crucial growth driver and presents an opportunity to accelerate Nigeria’s local and global development.

See Video here