Sterling Bank Seeks Monetisation of Intellectual Property

Sterling Bank Plc is dimensioning the creative sector of the Nigerian economy in a bid to upscale and monetise the intellectual property of creators in the industry.

The bank’s Head of Creative & Entertainment Business Financing, Mr Lanre Olalusi, disclosed this while addressing participants at the 2021 edition of Legends of Nollywood Awards held in Lagos recently.

Olalusi said: “We have realised that this sector is crucial to the Nigerian economy because of its significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provision of employment for many Nigerians.

“So, we are looking into the sector to see how we can upscale it and to see how we can monetise intellectual property by partnering with artists to create long-term value through their works,” he said.

Olalusi affirmed the need to put together the existing catalogues created by industry legends and assign value to them such that royalties received from these works can become revenue for the creators in the later parts of their careers.

He remarked that instead of artists seeking grants to finance their operations, they should seek valuation of their current bodies of work and use them as collateral to get financing for their current projects.

Olalusi introduced Specta to the artists, urging them to take advantage of its unique features.

He explained that Specta is an instant online lending platform that offers consumer loans of up to N5 million in five minutes. He added that the lending platform uses proprietary data analytics to process and disburses consumer loans who belong to pre-approved communities in less than five minutes without paperwork and collateral.

Specta automates, simplifies, and personalises the loan application, disbursement and receipt process while eliminating the slow turnaround time and other inconveniences associated with the manual process. The types of loans offered include personal, payday, rent, education, and medical finance loans.

Also speaking, Mr. Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning said operators in the creative industry are doing great, adding that the Federal Government has recognised their contribution to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

He also urged them to take advantage of the N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility stimulus package for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In his address of welcome, Mr Paul Obazele, Founder and President of the Legends of Nollywood Awards, said the 2021 edition with the theme: “Film and National Security” was aimed at identifying and recognising great men and women who, through their art, ingenuity, foresight and vision laid the solid foundation for the establishment of the vibrant motion picture industry known as Nollywood today.

He said the pleasure and excitement they derive in annually hosting this award lies in a firmly held view that the labour of heroes past should never be in vain. He noted that those who toiled to bequeath a vibrant motion picture industry to society deserve recognition.

He added that they had also used the platform to reach out to the less privileged, including those living with disabilities.

The awards given out this year were in three categories: press awards, patriarch awards and legends awards. Some of the awardees in the press category included Sam Awonyifa of The Punch, Okoh Aihie of the Vanguard, and Azu Arinze of Yes International Magazine.

Awardees in the patriarch category included Clem Agba, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning; Honourable Fatai Ayoola, Chairman, Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos; Chief Solomon Aguene, arts collector and dealer; Dr. Ifeanyi Odii, a businessman and philanthropist while awardees in the legends category are Joke Silva, Olu Jacobs and Richard Mofe-Damijo who bagged Lifetime Achievement Awards.