Microsoft Word - Achieving the promise of african cultural e

The surge of Nigeria movie production

The emergence of Nollywood is triggered by the demand for cultural good and by the digital revolution happening worldwide in moviemaking . Indeed through Nollywood movies, African can experience a cultural renaissance that even the best foreign movies cannot possibly provide. For instance, responding to the viewers demand for cultural goods which are vehicle of African identity and value, South African media group launched AfricanMagic. This channel shows mostly Nigerian movies to its subscribers in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In America, the African Diaspora watch Nollywood hits on Afrotainment. Nollywood is the most prolific movie industry and produces exclusively low costs movies. The Nigerian film industry is characterized by an average production of 10 days, an average cost of approximately $15,000 and each film is sold on average between 30,000 and 50,000 copies with mega hits reaching 500,000 copies. These are the local ingredients of a booming US$ 250 million industry. In 2005, Nollywood overtook Hollywood and Bollywood in terms of number of movie produced each year. Indeed in 2005, the United States produced 485 major films; the Mumbai-based film industry produced 1,091 feature-length films while Nollywood became the world largest film producer with more than 2,500 national productions.

Figure 9 : Nigeria experiences a surge in film production

Nollywood’s role in Nigerian economy

Nollywood is the biggest employer after agriculture and provides up to one million job opportunities indirectly . The industry is already employing about 200,000 people as producers, directors, actors and indirectly creates a legion of spinoff jobs for young

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