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Executive Summary
Africa’s cultural heritage is immense and the considerable opportunities offered by the
African creative economy have not been harnessed yet
. Indeed, the lack of copyright,
intellectual property rights and poor enforcement as well as more pervasive market
failures often prevent the full exploitation of cultural assets by its creators. Currently
Africa’s share in global trade of creative product remain limited at less than 1 per cent of
world export but sound policies and targeted investments in this sector can have a
significant impact on poverty alleviation through the creation of job for the youth.
Africa’s youth hold the key to the continent’s future.
Indeed the youth (below 24 years
old) make up more than half of most African population. However although they account
for only a third of the workforce they account for almost two-thirds of the unemployed.
It is critical to highlight that the unemployed youth should not be considered as a burden
but rather as a tremendous productive asset whose considerable skills and hidden talents
can stimulate the African economy.
Creative industries such as the music and entertainment are among the most dynamic
sectors in world trade
. Indeed over the period 2000-2005, international trade in creative
goods and services experienced an unprecedented average annual growth rate of 8.7 per
cent and can play a critical role in youth employment in Africa. However, African
countries are not yet able to harness their creative capacities.
The Nigerian Film industry offers a very good example how a creative industry, can
promote growth in Africa while providing youth with job opportunities.
Euphemistically
known as “Nollywood”, it is the most prolific in the world producing no fewer than 40
new movies every week and the third largest movie industry in the world by value ($250
million). It is estimated that the Nigerian industry provides up to one million job
opportunities both directly and indirectly.
Despite remarkable achievements, the industry remains unstructured and loosely
regulated
. 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 Piracy is
rampant making it difficult for producers to recoup their costs. Until the industry can
capture a greater proportion of the revenue stream it will be consigned to making low-
budget, low-quality productions and will not have the ability to scale-up its operations
and provide a larger number of well-paid jobs.
The paper analyses the modern Nigerian film industry revealing how various market
failures and coordination issues have resulted in a sub-optimal equilibrium
. It also
outlines a number of steps that can be taken by the Nigerian authorities and private sector
stakeholders to develop the industry to its full potential unleashing great prospect for job