Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says streaming offers growing possibilities for revenue generation in Nigeria’s music and film industries.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general spoke about Nigeria’s culture industries on Monday during a governors’ forum at the state house in Abuja.
Okonjo-Iweala said Nigerian music and film industries offer “many bright spots” to achieve global acclaim.
She said streaming holds growing opportunities for increased revenue generation, save for the scourge of piracy.
“I was in the Caribbean earlier this year and was delighted to hear people in Saint Lucia listening to Nigerian music,” she said.
“Nollywood is one of the world’s fastest-growing creative industries, according to an Afreximbank report, worth $6.4 billion in 2021 and growing at 10% per year.
“It is true that piracy has weighed on music and film revenues. Afreximbank estimated that, for every 100 legitimate copies of a Nigerian film supposed to sell for $6, 90% end up pirated for less than $1.
“But streaming offers new and growing possibilities for reach, affordability, and revenue generation.”
Onkonjo-Iweala said, beyond piracy, entertainment holds great potential for cultural tourism in Nigeria.
“There is a lot of potential for cultural tourism that explores our contemporary arts, literature, and entertainment scene alongside our rich and diverse history,” she said.
“Please remember that if California were a country, it would be the 5th largest economy in the world, largely built on services and entertainment.
“I always say that the future of trade is services. It is green and digital. We have the tools and the skills to capture new markets on the continent and elsewhere.”
Nigeria’s music, PwC projects, will hit $44 million in 2023, with live music alone contributing $100 million yearly.
The professional services company says Nigeria’s music-streaming segment is only slowly gaining traction.
In its 2019-2023 entertainment and media outlook, it says the music industry revenue from digital channels like streaming, paid downloads, and other mobile sources accounted for 76% of total industry revenues in 2018 alone.
It added that mobile music revenue accounted for over 60% of Nigeria’s music market in 2018 but is expected to decline to less than 50% by 2023 as the streaming segment continues to gain a stronger hold.
The movie scene is not left out as Nigeria’s OTT video streaming market, which includes big players like Netflix, Showmax, and Prime Video, is projected to spiral up from $14 million in 2021 to $26 million by 2026.
The internet, a source at the firm tells TheCable, drives a significant chunk of the growth in Nigeria’s creative sector.
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