Nollywood acknowledged as a cultural and economic tour de force

--

Nollywood acknowledged as a cultural and economic tour de force --

Mon, 07 Apr 2014 16:04

--

With Nigeria s GDP now totalling $510bn, the country has overtaken South Africa as the continent s major economy, according to reports released by the Nigerian government.

Nollywood, the country s homegrown film industry, has been recognised as a key economic driver of the country s success and it now accounts for approximately 1.3% of total output.

It comes as no surprise (that) data from Nollywood has been included in the recalculated GDP figures for Nigeria, comments Jason Njoku, co-founder and CEO of iROKOtv, the VC-backed Video-On-Demand (VOD) platform for Nollywood movies.

As some 1,500 to 2,000 films are being made every year, Njoku says that Nollywood can legitimately be uttered in the same breath as the likes of Hollywood .

Nollywood is the most hard-working, brutal and dynamic of industries that Nigeria has spawned, continues Njoku. It is an economic miracle that the industry has not only flourished, but grown exponentially, considering the conservative budgets movie producers have to work with, as well as the antiquated methods of distribution that held the industry back for so many years.

Njoku says that Nollywood has been actively discounted as a potential industry for growth in Nigeria for too long. Investors at home and abroad were unwilling to invest, putting their money in traditional sectors such as agriculture, oil and property, he adds.

In 2010, iROKOtv secured series A funding of $3m from US-based Tiger Global, the very first significant, multi-million dollar investment into the industry, which is really quite astonishing, Njoku says.

Since then, we have closed on a further $19m of VC investment, bringing the total to $21m, which is testament to how Nollywood is now, finally, considered by the international investor community as a very real and exciting investment prospect in Africa.

Njoku concludes that Nollywood s role in transforming Nigeria into an economic and cultural tour de force is a landmark for Nollywood, with no little thanks to the movie producers, actors and distributors who have helped to put Nigeria on the map culturally and with their creativity and dedication to their art, are helping to drive the economy upwards .

Related Articles

iROKOtv receives significant funding from investorsiROKOtv, the Video-on-Demand (VOD) platform for African content and Nigerian movies, has received $8 million from international investors...

Read more...

Jason Njoku new CEO of iROKINGJason Njoku has been appointed as the CEO of iROKING, Nigerias leading digital music platform...

Read more...

African films stream to the worldInternet film subscription and streaming services will allow a global audience to view African film and music content...

Read more...

iROKO Partners enters SA DVD marketEarlier this year, iROKO Partners, Africa s largest source of Nigerian entertainment with its platforms iROKOtv and iROKING, announced a major strategic development via its entry into the South African DVD market and the launch of 10 000 new Nigerian movie DVDs...

Read more...



-- --

-- --

-- Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus. comments powered by Disqus

LINK:	http://www.screenafrica.com/page/news/africa/1641225-Nollywood-acknowl...
	See more stories from screenafrica

Most recent headlines