BoI explains $200million creative industry fund

Following allegations that the $200 million creative industry fund is domiciled with it, the Bank of Industry (BoI) has refuted such claims stating that it had yet to receive any such fund from the government for the Entertainment/Nollywood sector.

A statement from the Bank, as cited by NAN reads in part: “the attention of the Bank has been drawn to a news report “Probe Jonathan’s $200 million Nollywood Fund, Lari Williams tells Buhari” published in some dailies wherein Mr. Lari alluded to the domiciliation of $200 million with the Bank of Industry Limited for eventual disbursement to artists who are able to come up with viable business plans.

“BoI would like to state for the records that it is not managing any $200 million Entertainment/Nollywood Fund and at no time did the Bank receive any such fund from the government for the Entertainment/Nollywood sector. This publication became necessary as some practitioners in the creative industry believe that BoI is in receipt of $200 million Entertainment/Nollywood Fund”.

It could be recalled that due to the commercial potential of the entertainment industry in Nigeria, the Bank has been making investments in the industry from its own resources since 2011.

“It has provided financial and advisory support to the following sub-sectors of the industry: movie production, cinemas, amusement/theme parks production studios etc. Recently, the Bank launched the NollyFund with a Fund size of N1.0 billion to support movie production and distribution.