N75 Billion Nollywood Funding Facility To Support Entertainment Industry

Plans to support the Nigerian Entertainment industry, popularly called Nollywood has just been concluded by the Federal Government, through the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), on a N75 billion funding facility.

The entertainment industry in Nigeria has taken an upward swing in the past decade, drawing the attention of the government and global multilateral funding agencies to the sector’s potential to trigger a major growth in the economy.

The potential of the essential sector of the economy has now led to the arrangement of the N75 billion fund that would be targeted at the different point in the value chain of the entire entertainment industry, from artiste development to video production and editing and then marketing and distribution.

The Managing Director, BOI, Ms Evelyn Oputu, during an annual general symposium organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said the fund was at the verge of disbursement.

Also speaking at the event, President, LCCI, Mr. Femi Deru, said the industrial sector was presently in a poor state bedeviled by high operating overheads, poor infrastructure, tight credit conditions, and absence of a well articulated industrial blueprint.
“Yet, this same sector holds the answer to any meaningful diversification the Nigerian economy can experience,” he said.

In diversifying this economy, he called for greater focus on the non-oil sector, adding that government should work towards the removal of the bottlenecks in the industrial sector.

According to him, “There are many opportunities existing in Nigeria’s industrial sector ranging from food processing to large scale manufacturing of finished goods. However, these opportunities cannot be exploited without the right infrastructure and business environment in place.”

He also pointed out the urgent need to diversify away from the over-dependence on oil into non-oil manufacturing in Nigeria, maintaining that the industrial sector remains one of the sectors with the highest capacity in terms of production, export and employment generation.

“The theme of today’s symposium is topical in the face of huge import bill incurred by Nigeria due to the comatose state of industries in Nigeria. We are also privileged to have the most relevant government officials to address the theme here,” he added.

“There also exists in Nigeria vast raw material resources that can readily feed industries to produce finished goods instead of the pitied state of the economy where almost all finished goods are imported thereby generating pressure on the Naira,” he said.

He noted that the agricultural sector must also be revived to supply the needed raw materials for the nation’s industries.
“Our transport system needs new investments that would put in place a multi-modal system involving railways, waterways and roads that would link supply locations of raw materials with the market locations of our industries,” he added.

One Comment

1. 

   realest1s

   November 21, 2011 at 10:47 pm

   What would be done about piracy ? ?