LCCI seeks investment in Nigeria’s creative industry

• Inaugurates creative, entertainment and sports group

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), has called for fresh investments into the nation’s creative industry.Indeed, the Chamber stated that investment is key to unlocking the economic potential of the sector, maintaining that the creative and entertainment industry has over the years become a tangible contributor to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The President, LCCI, Babatunde Ruwase, said the Nigerian Film industry (Nollywood), is globally recognised as the second largest film producer in the world, stressing that the sector is a significant part of the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, which contributed 2.3 percent (N239 billion) to Nigeria’s GDP in 2016, and valued at N156.5 billion in 2018, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Ruwase stated this at the inauguration of its Creative, Entertainment and Sports Group in Lagos.“It is in response to the importance and performance of the sector, that the chamber decided to create this group. The aim is to provide the necessary platform needed for advocacy that will enable a better business environment for the creative, entertainment and sport sector of the economy,” he said.

According to him, generally, the creative industry has made significant strides, as it has engaged the youth population and as such helped to generate employment.

In his words, “This sector is spurred by emerging digital technology, which supports content creation, distribution and consumption, a growing middle class in Nigeria, and most of sub-Saharan Africa as well as supporting industries, which are rapidly evolving. We are indeed very happy to identify with all members of this vibrant group today.”

The General Manager, SuperSport, Felix Awogu, said the industry is worth $2 trillion globally, and decried that Nigeria is yet to grab its piece of the cake despite the huge potential of the creative and entertainment industry.

“It is a growing industry, but we need to clean our system to do business the way it is done globally. We are not investing enough in this industry and this is the only way to go to take the industry to its desired position,” he said.