By Odimmegwa Johnpeter, Abuja
The Ministry of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) have sealed a pact to develop a framework for financing the creative industry’s growth.
The Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed on Friday, in Abuja aims to revitalize the sector, unlock its vast potential, and contribute significantly to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product of $100b by 2030 and create two million jobs by 2027. This was contained in a statement signed by Nneka Ikem-Anibeze, SA Media, to the Minister of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy (FMACCE).
Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Minister, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, expressed optimism that this collaboration will unleash the full potential of Nigeria’s creative industry, transforming it into a significant contributor to the nation’s economy and a major revenue generator.
“Today, we take a bold step forward in fulfilling this mandate of the Ministry in partnership with NESG, a leading private sector-led think tank dedicated to transforming Nigeria into an open, sustainable, and globally competitive economy. Our collaboration with NESG is grounded in a clear set of objectives – to develop a robust governance structure for the art, culture, and creative industries.
“The Ministry is pleased to build on the foundation laid in the draft Cultural Policy designed to promote cultural integration, preserve national values, and safeguard Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage. This policy will articulate clear objectives and strategies to enhance cultural development, language preservation, historiography, and the promotion of cultural diversity and inclusivity.
Minister Musawa said that the Ministry and NESG have co-created a policy thrust for a comprehensive national policy on the creative economy, which will provide strategic direction, outline key objectives, and establish regulatory mechanisms to foster growth, innovation, and sustainability within the sector.
“Once approved, the policy will be pushed to the National Assembly for their assent to establish the Act that will create a Central Authority for Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy and establish a fund, in alignment with the Ministry’s Key Performance Indicator (KPI) No. 2 which is to establish and operationalize a central authority to catalyze and coordinate the Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy from either a merger of existing parastatals in the Ministry or establishment of a new parastatal/Agency, as may be required.”
Earlier, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group’s lead and Chief Executive, Dr. Tayo Aduloju described the MoU as a watershed moment in the history of the Nigerian creative industry. He emphasized that the Creative Economy Working Group will drive public-private dialogue on industry matters and facilitate collaboration among stakeholders.
“The Creative Economy Working Group will serve as a stable platform for public-private dialogue, enabling swift decision-making on critical issues. By fostering industrial associations within cultural and creative sectors, we will facilitate collective engagement and effective stakeholder collaboration.
“Through capacity-building initiatives, we aim to unlock Nigeria’s creative potential, driving entrepreneurship and employability among youth across the country. Even policymakers and lawmakers will undertake study visits and experiential learning across different continents to improve the governance framework.’’
In his remarks, Mr. James Sule, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, hailed the MoU as a landmark achievement in revitalizing the art, culture, and creative economy sector. He highlighted the partnership’s goals of fostering economic growth, showcasing homegrown talent, and attracting both local and international investment.
“The Ministry looks forward to NESG’s assistance in the areas of review of extant policies, regulations and legislative frameworks in the sectors and recommend amendment and/or enactment of laws, policies regulations for executive approval, especially as they affect cultural and creative economy.
“Furthermore, NESG is expected to provide adequate and sustainable solutions to address the infrastructural gaps in the sectors. It is also to ensure exchange of experts and researchers in the relevant fields to enable shared intelligence for informed decision-making and for the parties to interact through meetings, conferences, events, festivals, and symposia”.
With this historic partnership, Nigeria’s creative industry is poised for transformative growth, paving the way for a brighter future for the country’s youth, creatives, and economy as a whole.
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