By Anthony Ochela, Abuja
Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Dr. Muntari Mohammed, has reiterated the commitment of the government to ensure the growth of the nation’s creative industry.
Dr. Mohammed was speaking on Friday at the International Arts and Crafts, (INAC) Expo, tagged “INAC 2025 Investment Roundtable.”
The expo was organised by the National Council for Arts and Culture, NCAC, in conjunction with the Center for the Study of the Economies of Africa, CSEA.
The event was themed ” The Economics of Nigerian Soft Power: How Storytelling and Creativity Can Win the Future for Nigeria.
Dr. Mohammed said the government is committed to building infrastructure both physical and policy oriented that will allow their talents to flourish and yield immense benefits.
According to him: “we must move from applause to assets, from streams to revenue streams, from viral moments to viable industries.
“The stories we tell should not be for cultural enrichment but access for a new economic paradigm.”
Speaking further, Mohammed said: “we must provide an environment where our creatives are not just celebrated but protected from hash environments.
“We will continue to address strategic investment into the entire value chain for our creative economy from production and must distribution to functional infrastructure.”
Speaking earlier, the Director of Economic Research of CSEA, Dr. Adedeji Adeniran and the Director-General of NCAC, Obi Asika, both challenged discussants to present creative ideas to grow the sector.
Mr. Asika later gave an update on how far the industry has grown in recent times and where the council is headed to further it’s cause.
He noted that the creative industry has the potentials to grow the nations GDP and financial figures are already speaking to its contributions.
Panelists at the event included Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA), Charles Emembolu the Chairman of the Council for Creative Technology Futures, (CCTF).
It also included Sanyade Okoli, the Special Adviser to the President on Finance and Massimo Paolucci, the European Union Representative to Nigeria.
