Minister of Information Hosts Creative Industry Financing Conference in Lagos

Yinka Olatunbosun

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has declared that a two-day conference for the creative industry will hold in Lagos on July 17 and 18 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island.

He made this known during a press briefing at Ikeja which came on the heels of a creative industry roundtable with stakeholders organised earlier in the week.

Titled, “The Creative Industry Financing Conference”, this gathering is a product of the collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, in conjunction with the Think Tank Media.

With the primary objective of returning the industry into a golden era of smooth access to short and long term financing, world class management as well as local and international distribution, this conference will serve as the melting pot of ideas that will drive the economy.

The Minister said: “We conceived this conference because of our realization that lack of access to financing is stunting the growth of the Creative industry. It is the latest in a series of conferences and other events that we have held since assuming office. Recall that we held the landmark National Summit on Culture and Tourism last year to chart the path for the industry. Most of its recommendations are already being implemented.

“Also, only this Monday, we held a Roundtable on the Creative Industry here in Lagos. Recall also that we have signed a number of MoUs, with the Bank of Industry, Tony Elumelu Foundation and the British Council, all for the sole purpose of boosting the Creative Industry.”

As part of effort to diversify the economy, the Minister remarked that other sectors being developed into pillars of the economy include the Agriculture and Solid Minerals.

The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, will declare the conference open. Some of the issues that will be discussed include ”Government’s Role in Funding Creative Industry’, ‘The Bank of Industry Experience’, ‘Fundamentals of financing film, Television and Music Production’, as well as ‘Film, Television and Digital Distribution’.
Resource persons had been sourced from global experts within and outside Nigeria.

“Our neighbour, Niger Republic, has also indicated its willingness to attend the event, having shown a growing interest in our efforts to grow the Creative Industry,” the Minister said.

Describing the creative sector as Nigeria’s new oil, the Minister observed the creative industry contributed 84.1 billion Pounds Sterling to the British economy in 2014. It also contributed 698 billion dollars to the US Economy in 2015.

It is against this backdrop that this conference has been scheduled to facilitate the necessary network for key players in Nigeria’s creative industry with such great economic potentials.