FG urged to harness investment opportunities in creative industry

Federal government has been urged to harness the investment opportunities that abound in the Creative and Entertainment industries to shore up the revenue base as well create employment opportunity.

The stakeholders, at the 2025 Ibadan Film Festival with the theme “Story Meets Strategy: The Intersection of Art and Commerce in Film, Balancing creative vision with commercial speed” in Ibadan at the weekend resolved that there is need for the government in the sector.

It was submitted that total reliance on the oil and gas sector has done more harm to the economy hence the need for the government to divest in other money spinning sector.

They submitted that developing nations are leveraging on the Creative industry to boost their respective economies.

In his presentation, the Convener of Ibadan Film Festival, Mr Usman Olarotimi-Ogunlade submitted that access to funding is militating against the growth of the sector.

He, thereby, called for the establishment of Specialized bank that would work as Bank of Agriculture(BOA) has been working for the growth and development of agric sector.

This, he said, would enable stakeholders in the creative industry to access loan facility in single digit interest rate and other supports that would make industry to thrive.

Olarotimi-Ogunlade said that the film festival aimed to showcase creative opportunities in Ibadan to the world and also shift global attention to Nigeria creative industry for more partnerships.

“Ibadan has bee the cradle of entertainment in years past, the city happens to be first in many things such as first television and radio station in Africa, and foremost cultural centre in Nigeria.

“The rationale behind Ibadan international film festival is that we want to open up Ibadan to the creative world, there are so many talents in Ibadan. We also have a lot of creative minds doing something great and wonderful things in Ibadan.

“The events of the festival include master class, creative work assessment, lectures on storytelling and film making, mentorship for upcoming artists, and networking.

“With this programme, we can drive private sector investments into our creative industry and through it we will have more visitors to patronise our creative works from abroad thereby boost our tourism and hospitality sector leading to more economic gains for the country, “he said.

Also, the veteran actor in Mainframe Films drama tagged “Oleku”, Mrs Feyikemi Abodunrin popularly known as “Asake” urged government to intensify its clamp down efforts on the menace of piracy of intellectual property in Nigeria.

She noted that piracy has been major impediment to the progress of Nigeria creative industry, denying content creator of their royalties and ultimately loss of revenues that suppose to go to government cover.

A participant at the event, Miss Jessica Gabriel-Ujah, also a film actor, said that the festival had exposed upcoming artists to various section of the creative industry that could be explored to break even in the industry.

She added that participants also had opportunity to network and showcase their talents for right work placement.

The event also featured, exhibition, panels sessions and lecture with a focus on how to balance artists and other stakeholders’ creative vision with right commercial values.

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