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on at the location. Studio space and time is desperately required by the industry and yet
has not been provided by the private sector. This situation is a result of the fragmentation
in the film industry and lack of music labels as well as the difficulty of capturing
revenues from film and music products.
In Nigeria distribution channels are inexistent preventing the industry to reap any
financial benefits.
At the moment there are few formal distribution channels open to
Nigerian film-makers and after a film is completed, it goes directly to video stores for
rental and sales. There is no established cinema circuit that caters to Nigerian movies
and the incentive to do so is low since the target audience of these films is the rural and
urban poor, who cannot afford to go to cinema and who watch the movie in informal
settings. The few international style cinemas that do exist in a handful of the country’s
major towns cater exclusively to international movies. Nigerian movies therefore utilize
digital media and go straight to DVD and VCD formats. Without a formal distribution
and marketing channel they are unable to reap the financial benefits of a cinema release.
Figure 7 : A value chain characterized by the fragmentation of the film industry
African distribution channels for Nigeria’s movies are emerging and contribute to the
growth of the industry but property rights are not systematically respected.
Distribution
channels in Africa include MNET’s Africa Magic and now Africa Magic Plus as well as
an increasing number of terrestrial channels such as Hi TV that are showing Nigerian
movies. Channel O appears to be the leading music channel as well as forum for
releasing high quality short movies of topical interest to a youth audience. MTV Africa
and other channels are also increasingly interested in African music. It is reported that
these channels purchase Nigerian movies at market rates. Commercial channels are
interested in improving the quality of the film and music products that are currently being
sourced. Getting better content on their channels will in turn allow them to charge higher
rates for their channels when they are marketed to cable companies such as DStv, Nilesat
and others. MNET Africa would also like to maintain its branding and image by ensuring