FG urges creatives to apply for $750m NCARES facility

• Nollywood raked in $2bn by August, says GOVT
• Roundtable proposes Entertainment Bank, City and Institute
• We’re organised, creatives tackle FG

GOOD news came the way of Nigerian creatives last Thursday when the federal government announced they can access a $750m funding programme.

This offer was disclosed by Director Economic Growth Budget and National Planning at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Aso Vakporaye, at the maiden edition of the Nigeria Entertainment and Economic Roundtable, held in Ikeja, Lagos.

According to Vakporaye, the programme, ‘Nigeria Covid 19 Action Response Economic Stimulus (NCARES), is an initiative  to tackle the covid-19-induced economic depression.

“Government, through the World Bank, is releasing $750m into the economy,” he said, adding that creatives can benefit from the grant by showing proof of what they have done. And it does not require travelling to Abuja.

“Just go to your state headquarters, go to the ministry of budget there. Tell them you want to collect your NCARE.”

The theme of the roundtable was: ‘Positioning the creative and entertainment industry to lead the private sector in supporting Federal and State Governments’ efforts to achieving urgent diversification.’

In his presentation at the roundtable, the minister of state for finance, budget and national planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, who was represented by Sufuayan Ojeifo, said that the creative and entertainment industry is important to the country as it aligns with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017 – 2020).

“It is on record that the creative and entertainment industry contributed 2.3%, approximately N239bn to the nation’s GDP in 2016,” the minister said.

“Given its great potentialities, the sector was strategically captured in the ERGP with the following objectives – to increase film production by 15% on an annual basis, to export videos to generate $1bn foreign exchange by 2020, to improve enforcement of intellectual property rights for artistic works produced in Nigeria and crackdown on piracy, to encourage development of a special funding window and to provide incentive for private sector investment.

“The inclusion of the creative and entertainment industry as one of the mandate areas that were prioritised for execution were basically aimed at encouraging private sector, more especially youth participation in the industry.”

Reeling out facts about the ERGP which ends by December 31, 2020, the minister said: “Through the Central Bank of Nigeria, it (federal government) has established a funding window for the creative industry to access loans from a bank. This is a way of encouraging entrepreneurs and investors in the industry to deepen and strengthen their involvement in fashion, music, information technology, movie production and software engineering.

“The amounts accessible through this funding window are from three million naira to five hundred million naira with a maximum interest rate of nine percent and with a repayment period ranging from three to ten years. The entertainment and creative industry is expected to rake in $10.5bn in foreign exchange earnings by the end of 2022. The Nigerian film industry employs over one million people and for instance, as of August 2020, generated a whopping $2bn a year from box office, DVD sales, TV rights, royalties and fees. Without a doubt, increased investment by both private and public sectors are needed to enhance the value chain addition across our key creative industries.”

Representing the Lagos State government, Mrs Toyin Ogunlana, said that the roundtable was timely.

“Given the prevailing economic realities in the land and the glaring comparative and competitive advantage of the creative and entertainment sector, the roundtable idea was well-conceived, well-thought-out and well-thought-through,” she said.

“The creative and entertainment sector should be deployed for optimal outcome with the private sector leading the way. Lagos State shares in this legitimate aspiration and would be willing to collaborate with interested partners for the attainment of this noble goal in the overall interest of our economy.”

The minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who was represented by Director of Operations , Mr Augustus Babjide, stressed that creatives should not go through hell to get funds.

“Like CBN, the kind of stringent conditionality they give is not for the creatives,” he said.

“It’s for people who are going into other businesses.”

Alhaji Lai Mohammed also urged that the the movie practitioners bill, otherwise called the  MOPICON Bill, which has been subject of controversy, but has been with a committee of the National Assembly for years now,  be passed so that Nollywood can be better regulated.

“There is no industry without regulation. It’s not possible. First let’s have MOPICON Bill, so you can throw the charlatans out. And the serious people would be reckon with.”

THE roundtable which attracted stakeholders in the creative field, was organised by Africultour under the auspices of the federal ministry of finance, budget and national planning. According to the convener of the roundtable, Chuks Akamadu, who is also the managing director of Africultour, though gaps still exists, government should be commended for policy interventions in the creative sector.

“The whole idea is to cultivate a culture of dialogue among stakeholders and galvanize the requisite critical mass needed to transform the industry into a modern money-spinning machine with potentials to set the entire culture-tourism landscape on a path to economic prosperity,” Akamadu said.

“The central objective of the roundtable is to urgently design an inclusive industry framework for stimulating and re-energizing the economy to stablise and flourish sustainably amid Covid 19, post-Covid 19 and in the face of unprecedented crude oil dwindling fortunes.”

Akamadu also proposed the establishment of three projects – Nigerian Entertainment Bank, Nigerian Institute of Entertainment and Nigerian Entertainment City.

The Chairman of the Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria, Mahmood Alli-Balogun, thanked the organisers for inviting the federal ministry of finance, budget and national planning. He, however, said that the entertainment industry must be taken seriously.

“When you say entertainment, what comes to peoples’ mind is relaxation, leisure,” said, an advocate for the development of the Nigerian creative sector.

“Maybe that’s why they’ve not taken us seriously. So, I would rather ruse the term ‘creative economy.’ It covers everyone. Maybe they would start to take us seriously.”

He said the creative economy was in shambles not because it lacked policies.

“Some of the problems we’ve had has been policy somersaults with the various governments.

“With all the reasonable things we’ve got in terms of the plans, what the policy says, government has not been sincere with us in the creative sector. If you look at appointments, you have situations where they put round pegs in square holes.”

“Appointments are compensatory. But help us to put in charge of the creative sector people who have an understanding of what the creative sector is all about. We’ve had situations in the past where we have people who are in the medical sciences to come man the creative sector. There would be challenges. Before he understands, four years would have past. We’re not saying they’re not competent, they’re not having managerial skills but understanding the sector would take them time.”

The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria also joined the conference via Zoom. Highlighting the similarities between Nollywood and its Indian equivalent, Bollywood, the High Commissioner  said “Nollywood is hugely untapped” and hinted on support and cooperation between both countries.

THERE were, however, sparks when the head of division, ministry of finance, budget and national planning, Dr Paul Nwabisi, advised the creatives to take advantage of the funds government has provided and not castigate them without trying to access the funds.

“First thing I see as a flaw is the structuring,” he said addressing the audience made up of mostly practitioners in the movie industry.

“How can government interface with you when you are not structured? When you are not structured, most of the data we are talking about, how do we then reconcile? And even watching the entertainment industry, you will understand that you have not gotten your acts together. That is my own perception. I’m not talking about government.”

Members of the audience did not like his lashing and murmured their displeasure.

And speaking just after, the chairman, Board of Trustees of the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Prince Ifeanyi Dike threw in a harsh response.

Chanting his organisation’s call to which the members present loudly responded, he faced guests on the hightable and said: “Can you see? We’re organised.”

Receiving cheers from the audience, Dike continued: “It’s always easy to look at entertainers and talk down on them. I would not appreciate that. We don’t have pension at the end of the day. Those in government rely on pension. We are creating content and it takes a lot of our energy and passion to create anything. It’s easy to come and say you should come together, we should have structure. For goodness’ sake, we have guilds; we have DGN, we have AMP, what structure are you looking for again?

And in her response the vice president of the Association of Movie Producers, Blessing Queen, recalled her attempt to access loans in 2019.

“They told us there are billions of naira in the bank for us to access,” she said, referring to the government.

“But those monies can’t be accessed. And I’m talking because I know. Last year, I tried to access the Creative industry loan through Access Bank. I applied for N30m and they (Access Bank) told me they wanted a house (as collateral). I gave them a house. They (Access Bank) said the house didn’t have C of O (Certificate of Ownership). They (Access Bank) then said I should look for somebody who is worth N200m to surety for me. So, we went back and forth and I was not able to access that loan. As vice president of my association, me and the president, Madam Peace Anyiam Osigwe, have been faced with a lot of challenges from our members. Each time they send you a message, it’s like, how are you guys going to help us access loans? The truth of the matter is that the producers need money. We are the ones employing every other sector in Nollywood. If producers don’t have money to produce movies, every other person would not work. So, if the government wants to help us, they need to allow us access to these loans.

“If you’re a member of a well-known Guild, that should be enough. Your past jobs should be enough. And I must add that as celebrities, our name is our brand. If we take your loan and we do not pay back, one minute video on social media would destroy us. So, we’re not going to run away with these monies. We’re going to pay back.”

Also present at the event were the Zamfara State commissioner for budget and economic planning, Ibrahim Jibo, Permanent Secretary, Sokoto State ministry of culture, Mallam Mohammed Abubakar Ladan – both of whom came with delegations from their respective states. There were also delegations from Lagos, and Jigawa states. Other celebrities and practitioners in attendance included the president of the Directors Guild of Nigeria, Fred Amata, former President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ejike Asiegbu, veteran actor Tony Akposheri and reggae musician, Andy Shurman