NIPC boss says creative industry can boost Nigerian economy if properly harnessed

Mrs Yewande Sadiku, Director-General (D-G), Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), on Monday said that the creative industry has the potential to generate more income that could boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

Sadiku said this at the opening of a two-day Creative Nigeria Summit at the Eko Hotels and Suites Convention Centre in Lagos themed, “Financing the Film, Television and Music Industries’’.

Our correspondent reports the summit which started on Monday would end tomorrow.

She said the theme focused on understanding the creative industry better so that it could be better explored by government and the organised private sector to generate more revenue for the country.

“The creative industry contributes about 1.4 per cent of the country’s GDP but it has the capacity to contribute more if it is properly understood.

“The industry creates employment and can be used as a veritable tool to educate its viewers concerning relevant matters which cut across all section of life.’’

Sadiku said that the government should not be directly involved in funding the creative sector but its duty was to provide an enabling environment for the industry to blossom.

“The government can assist in the development of the industry by providing infrastructure that will enable the industry to generate more money.’’

The NIPC boss gave an instance those movies as: ‘Half of the Yellow Sun’ and ‘Wedding Party’ can bring yield more revenue if more cinemas would be made available in the country.

“There is also the difficulty in getting licences to show films in the cinemas which the government can make more accessible.’’

Sadiku said that the government could also attract wealthy Nigerians to invest in the industry for better management of taxes.

Meanwhile, Mr Tokunbo Akande, the Special Adviser to Gov. Akinwumi Ambode on Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), said an understanding of the value-chain system of the industry would help pinpoint areas of support from the government.

Akande identified the value-chain system as creativity, aggregation, distribution and consumption as important areas where investment would stimulate growth.

“Direct funding is not really necessary from the government but an understanding of the value-chain system and how it works will help focus on area of investments.

“The government can also provide incentives to film producers to encourage the production of quality movies in the country,’’ he said.

Similarly, Mr Tony Okoroji, Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), said that effective leadership in the industry was necessary to curb piracy.

“The protection of intellectual properties cannot be over-emphasised because this accounts for the foundation where creativity stems from’’.

Okoroji said that the deployment of stronger legislature and technology could also help reduce piracy in the country.