Tunji Wusu –
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has urged for the development of Nigeria’s creative economy’s potential in order to increase the sector’s contribution to the country’s economic expansion.
The decision was decided by the NESG as a business policy commission on Tuesday at the creative economy thematic group of the tourism, hospitality, entertainment, creatives, and sports. The purpose of the general assembly was to lay out the future course for Nigeria’s creative economy.
“In order to fully realize the potential of Nigeria’s creative economy, we must transform the sector from its current unorganized, unconnected model to one that is more structured and interconnected, with formal systems and interconnected protocols, and that satisfies the goals of the creative economy component of our Medium Term National Development Plan (NDP) 2021–2025, the recommendations of the longer-term National Development Plan 2050, as well as the goals of various international development
According to Ufot, Nigeria’s creative industry is at the vanguard of that in Africa. If its enormous potential is realized, its already impressive contribution to Nigeria’s economy can still grow to take the lead in the non-oil sector’s contribution to GDP, he added.
The five subsectors collectively employ more than 4.2 million people, which means they might potentially add additional jobs and boost the national GDP beyond the 12.2 percent the telecommunications and information sector presently provides. “The creative economy could even outperform the oil industry if fully harnessed, especially given Nigeria’s enormous population of highly talented youths,” he said.
Mr. Ufot reaffirmed that the prominence of Nigeria’s creative sector in Africa has promoted the country’s unique culture and fueled inbound and outbound travel, including reverse tourism, for Nigerians living abroad.
All presidents of professional associations in the creative sector were present, according to the program’s facilitator Dr. Ikenna Nwosu, to discuss the future of the creative economy, particularly in relation to governance, policies, regulations, institutional framework, and human resources.
Nigeria’s creative sector is divided into five categories by the National Bureau of Statistics: media and entertainment, beauty and fashion, visual arts, tourism, and hospitality.
The NESG believes in public-private collaboration for sustained advocacy, according to Mr. Sijuola Olanubi, head of think tank operations, in his presentation on mandate, strategy, and the future of advocacy. The political dimension, administrative transition process, and policy dimension, which brings together priority policies used to engage government and all stakeholders, are how the NESG engages, according to him. He also noted that the NESG guides against vested interests and aligns her values in the interest of the country.
The Nigerian Copyright Commission’s director general, Dr. John Asein, who was represented at the occasion by Ms. Lynda Alphaeus, stated that the commission started the process for reforming the Act in 2012 and that it took around 10 years for the new Act to be passed and signed into law.
Speaking at a paper presentation on “The Nigerian Copyright Act 2022 in Perspective,” she claimed that the Nigerian entertainment sector has grown astronomically, making the creative sector an important driver of the country’s economy.
According to Asein, the new Act enhances the previous one while also enabling authors to become more dependant and trust the legal system, which will promote greater creativity and legal and administrative governance in both traditional and digital spaces.
According to Ms. Ugochi Akudo-Nwosu, director of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture’s entertainment and creative services division, Nigeria’s creative industry is a powerful force, necessitating the department’s mandate to foster public and private sector cooperation, promote entertainment and innovative services, and develop policies that will empower the country’s creative sector.
For the purpose of enhancing Nigeria’s creative sector, she noted the necessity of a national policy on the creative economy, the creation of a creative economy agency, the provision of adequate funding, and the strengthening of ties between the creative agency and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
In order to advance Nigeria’s creative industry, Ms. Akudo-Nwosu emphasized the importance of key stakeholders coordinating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the execution of monetary policy for the creative economy and a review of the national culture policy with relevant stakeholders.
The World International Property Organization (WIPO) has offices in 193 countries, but the one in Nigeria is the only one in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Mr. Oluwatobiloba Moody, the resident representative who Ms. Victoria represented. This speaks to the creative potential and strength of the Nigerian people.
She stated that the organization continues to encourage stakeholders to make advantage of the available tools and support for capacity-building related to intellectual property, with a current emphasis on women, youth, and MSMEs.
At the conclusion of the general assembly, the presidents of the creative industry associations unanimously praised the cooperative effort between the NESG, FMIC, and other crucial players for improving the governance of the creative economy in Nigeria.
