Minister boosts creative economy with waivers to community cinemas

Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, Hanatu Musa Musawa, has approved licensing waiver for investors wishing to establish cottage or community cinema in the country.

Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), Dr Husseini Shaibu, announced this in Lafia, Nassarawa State during a meeting with stakeholders.

He said the waiver approval was in line with President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s agenda of improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate. He also stated that waiver approval aligns with the ministers’ agenda of providing incentives needed to encourage investment in the creative industry, improve revenue generation for government and the filmmakers, as well as create jobs for youths across the country.

The Executive Director noted that the decision to grant a licensing waiver would have a huge multiplier effect in the bottom rung of the cinema exhibitor pyramid.

“This and other incentives, the Minister has promised, will no doubt fuel the expansion of Cinema screens and promote wider screening of Nollywood films at the local box office,” Husseini said, adding that following the approval by the minister, the NFVCB has granted a provisional approval to an investor to test-run a community cinema project for a period of 12 months. Formally established in 1994, the National Film and Video Censors Board is a parastatal of the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy.