Microsoft Word - Achieving the promise of african cultural e

preventing the entertainment industry from growing, creating job opportunities and finally from becoming a major exporters of creative goods.

Chapter 3: Nollywood today The prolific entertainment industry in Nigeria

Entertainment as a creative industry has significant potential for growth and value addition for the Nigerian economy . With a population of more than 150 million people and a high demand for African production, Nigeria represents a huge market for the cinema industry. As the industry appeals predominantly to the youth, support to the industry can provide more opportunities for Nigeria’s youngsters and therefore contribute to GDP growth through job creation.

The Nigerian Film industry, euphemistically known as Nollywood, is the most prolific movie industry in the world but remains unstructured and loosely regulated. It is the third largest movie industry in the world by value ($250 million) after Hollywood and Bollywood (India’s film industry) but the first in terms of films production since Nollywood produces no fewer than 40 new movies every week. It is

The average budget of a Hollywood feature film exceeded the sum of $ 106 million in 2008 (of which $67 million were production costs and $ 39 million were distribution). A Nigerian feature film therefore costs the equivalent of six seconds of an American film.

estimated that the Nigerian industry employs 200,000 people directly and provides up to one million job opportunities indirectly. Most of those employed in the industry are graduates or school leavers and the most popular locations to shoot movies are in Lagos, Kano, Enugu and Abuja. Despite tremendous achievements, production standards remain low, marketing and distribution linkages are at best ad hoc and access to finance remains extremely limited. There are few global linkages and a strong need to improve quality at all stages of the value chain from production to post-production and retail distribution. Finally rampant piracy is a scourge for the industry. musical output has achieved international acclaim not only in the fields of folk and popular music, but also Western art music written by composers such as Fela Sowande. The Nigeria music industry fuses native rhythms with techniques imported from the Congo, Brazil, Cuba and elsewhere. Highlife was an important foundation for the development of several popular styles that were unique to Nigeria, like apala, fuji, jùjú and Yo-pop. Subsequently, Nigerian musicians created their own styles of United States hip-hop and Jamaican reggae. Nigeria has some of the most advanced recording studio technology in Africa, and provides robust commercial opportunities for music performers thanks to the huge domestic market, big enough to sustain artists who sing in regional languages and experiment with indigenous styles. Nigeria’s music is widely available all over Africa and is attracting international attention due to the quality of its production and exports opportunities. Nigeria's

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