Beyond Entertainment: The Economic Promise Of Nigeria's Content Industry

1. Introduction

In recent years, content creation has emerged as one of Nigeria's most dynamic and culturally significant industries. From viral comedy skits to chart-topping Afrobeats and Netflix originals, Nigerian creators are not just entertaining millions, they are building an industry with serious economic value. Nigeria ranks amongst the biggest content creation hubs in Africa, alongside South Africa and Kenya. With over 140 million active internet users who are predominantly within the ages of 15 to 40, Nigeria boasts a young population both producing and consuming digital content at an unprecedented rate.

However, beyond the 'likes' 'streams', and viral moments, lies a potentially massive industry. Content creation in Nigeria is fast becoming a vital contributor to job creation and even foreign exchange earnings.

This article explores the economic prospects of Nigeria's content industry, the challenges faced by creators, and the steps necessary to build a robust and future-proof content economy.

2. The Economic Prospects: A Closer Look at the Numbers

Gross Domestic products (GDP) Contribution

While Nigeria's GDP classification does not isolate the content industry, as a standalone sector, the "Motion Pictures, Sound Recording, and Music Production" sector as well as the "Arts, Entertainment and Recreation" sector provides a reliable proxy¹

According to the Q4 2024 GDP report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the above referenced sectors annually contributed approximately NGN2.7 trillion to Nigeria's annual GDP. In comparison, their contribution in 2023 was NGN1.97 trillion, representing a 37% year–on-year increase.

In addition, the GDP contribution of these sectors has shown a consistent upward trajectory over the past decade, underscoring their growing economic significance and sustained impact on national output.

Given the growing importance of the sector, the Federal Government has unveiled plans to increase the contribution of the creative sector to Nigeria's GDP to $100 billion [NGN150.6trillion] by 2030. These plans according to the Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy will revolve around four unique pillars – Technology, Infrastructure, International Culture Promotion and Intellectual Property monetization.

Employment Numbers

The NBS is the official government agency responsible for publishing employment data in Nigeria. However, the employment figures released by the NBS are not disaggregated by sector and, as such, there is no official data specifically capturing employment levels within the creative sector.

Nonetheless, insights can be drawn from research findings and industry reports by non-official sources, which provide indicative trends on the extent to which the creative sector contributes to employment in Nigeria.

According to a 2022 study conducted by Jobberman in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, the creative industry in Nigeria employed approximately 4.2 million people, making it the second largest employer of labour after the agricultural sector. The report further projected that the industry could generate an additional 2.7 million jobs by 2025.

While observable trends such as the increased adoption of digital and social media platforms by Nigerian creators indicate a possible expansion in employment within the sector since 2022, it remains unclear whether this growth has met or exceeded the projected 2.7 million additional jobs.

Investment Numbers

Over the last decade, the creative industry has attracted significant investments and international partnerships into Nigeria. This signals the increasing interest the sector is garnering globally. We have listed below, some of the major investments/partnerships this sector has attracted in the past decade.

1. Acquisition of a majority stake in Mavins Global by Universal Music Group (UMG), a world leader in music-based entertainment. The specific financial terms of this acquisition was not disclosed by UMG.
2. In November 2022, Afreximbank signed a multi-million Dollar deal with Silverbird Group for constructing Ben Murray-Bruce Studios & Film Academy in Eko Atlantic. This facility is projected to be the largest facility of its kind in West Africa.
3. Mr Eazi's talent incubator, emPawa Africa, partnered with YouTube in 2019 to support emerging Nigerian artists.
4. Investment firms such as MBO capital etc. have invested significantly into the Nigerian creative sector.
5. In 2023, Netflix disclosed that it has invested over $23 million in Nigerian films, helping elevate Nollywood to international recognition.

The above list is not exhaustive. Significant investments continue to flow into the Nigerian creative industry. These investments are driven by the global recognition of Nigerian content as well as improved internet penetration, expanding smartphone access, and government-led broadband initiatives.

3. Challenges Facing Creators

While the prospects are compelling, Nigerian content creators continue to grapple with several hurdles which we have listed below.

Limited Access to Finance

While the sector has attracted significant institutional investments and high-profile partnerships, access to finance at the individual creator or small business level remains a major hurdle. Many creators operate informally or lack the corporate structure and collateral required to access traditional financing such as bank loans, grants, or venture capital. As a result, they struggle to scale their content production, improve quality, or commercialize effectively especially when compared to better-funded industry players.

Limited enforcement of copyright protection

Beyond financial constraints, another critical issue affecting the Nigerian creative industry is the limited enforcement of copyright protection.

Copyright infringement remains a significant concern for creators. While Nigeria has copyright laws in place, enforcement is often weak or inconsistent. As a result, many creators are unable to fully monetize their intellectual property, losing substantial revenue to piracy and unauthorized use of their content. This undermines both the motivation to create and the sustainability of creative enterprises.

Infrastructural Deficits

Another challenge faced by creators in Nigeria is the unreliability of power supply and the inconsistent availability of high-speed internet. These infrastructure deficits represent major bottlenecks across the entire content creation value chain, from production to distribution.

Unstable electricity supply often results in frequent disruptions to creative workflows, increases production timelines, and raises operational costs due to reliance on alternative power sources such as generators and inverters. For small and independent creators in particular, the cost of maintaining these backup systems can be prohibitive, directly impacting productivity and the quality of output.

Similarly, inconsistent access to reliable high-speed internet significantly hampers key aspects of modern content creation, including cloud-based editing, remote collaboration, live streaming, and timely content uploads to digital platforms. In an increasingly globalized digital economy, where immediacy and audience engagement are critical, poor internet connectivity places Nigerian creators at a competitive disadvantage.

4. Building a Robust Content Economy: What Must Be Done Now

To fully harness the transformative potential of Nigeria's content industry, a multi-stakeholder approach is crucial. Here's what we think must happen in the short to medium term:

Engage in value adding training/sensitization for creators

Nigeria's content creators often lack access to formal training on both the business side of content creation such as corporate governance, business plans, legal rights, funding, tax benefits etc. as well as skillsets necessary to compete globally in the creative industry. Skillsets such as content strategy, storytelling, audience analytics, and brand monetization are worthy mentions. Structured capacity-building programs, delivered through workshops, online courses, and partnerships with global platforms can empower creators with the skills necessary to scale their businesses to new frontiers.

Given the above, we recommend the establishment of creative academies across the country. The government can motivate the setup of these creative academies by providing fiscal incentives to investors that setup these academies.

Create Co-creation hubs across the country

Many talented creators lack access to quality production equipment, high-speed internet, and safe, professional spaces to create. Establishing co-creation hubs with well-equipped digital studios and high-speed internet, editing suites, podcast rooms, and collaboration lounges in major cities will democratize access to production resources. Some banks in Nigeria are currently establishing creation hubs with state-of-the-art studios and production equipment.

To encourage more private participation, the government can consider incentivizing private sector participation for companies establishing these hubs.

Create a fund where people can invest in the creative economy with specific incentives

Just like the real estate investment trust schemes in Nigeria, a fund can be created that allows individuals, institutional investors etc. to invest directly in content-related ventures. These investments could unlock massive capital for the sector. Investors could be offered tax incentives on such investments.

Create a task force and tribunal for real time monitory and resolution of copyright infringement matters

Intellectual property theft remains a pervasive challenge limiting creators from fully realizing the benefits and returns of commercializing their content.

Sometimes, pursuing legal action (through the traditional courts) against perpetrators of intellectual property theft can be a protracted process before resolution is achieved. Therefore, it may be useful to create a dedicated Copyright Task Force and fast-track Tribunal. This Task force and tribunal should be tasked with ensuring the timely resolution of copyright infringement related matters.

Expand access to finance

Beyond establishing a fund as suggested in the earlier sections of this article, creators should have broader access to affordable financing through tailored credit facilities and grants for content production and distribution. It is worthy of note that dedicated financing currently exists for the creative sector, we have listed some of them below.

• Creative Industry Financing Initiative: this Central Bank-backed scheme provides access to single-digit interest loans for creative businesses, covering film production, distribution, gaming, music, and fashion.

• The African Export and Import Bank (Afrexim) $1Billion Africa Film Fund: The Afrexim Bank earlier in May 2025, committed to investing up to $1billion, in the African Film Industry. We expect that this investment will leapfrog the African film industry and make them more competitive in the global market.

• Bank of Industry loans: The Bank of Industry also disburses loans to operators in the creative sector. Although it must be noted that these loans are not typically disbursed to individuals, but to incorporated entities.

Improve internet connectivity and access to power supply

Unreliable power and internet access remain critical infrastructural bottlenecks affecting content production, live streaming, and digital marketing. Investments in broadband expansion and decentralized renewable energy solutions for creative hubs will catalyze productivity in this sector.

5. Conclusion

Nigeria's content creation industry is no longer just about entertainment, it is a vital economic sector capable of generating significant employment, foreign investment, and even tax revenue. However, to fully unlock its potential, a deliberate multi-stakeholder approach is needed. By addressing infrastructural gaps, improving access to finance and safeguarding intellectual property, Nigeria can position itself as a global powerhouse for content creation and therefore attract more global partnerships/investments.

Footnote

1. Although we have considered the "arts, entertainment and recreation" sector in our analysis, we appreciate that in coming to the GDP figure for this sector, other subsector that do not relate to digital content may have been considered.

The opinion expressed in this article is solely personal and does not represent the views of any organization or association to which the authors belong.