NBC moves to deepen Nollywood brand equity
For the first time in the 20-year history of the Nigerian film industry, better known as Nollywood, there is a calculated move by National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to leverage the value premium the industry can add to the national treasure. The recent announcement of a major working relationship between the entertainment and broadcast environment in Nigeria is part of the move.
Nollywood has garnered a good reputation in the last two decades as the leading product that projects Nigeria’s image to the outside world. The industry is estimated to worth over $250 million with a production capacity of over 200 home videos monthly. In recent times also the Nigerian government has acknowledged the commercial viability of Nollywood, first, through a N3 billion grant from President Goodluck Jonathan and being recognised as a critical factor in the rebasement of Nigeria’s economy.
With this in mind, the NBC has concluded plans to open another window of opportunity which will further broaden the scope of practitioners in the Nigerian film industry, while placing it on a pedestal of international competition.
Speaking at a recent meeting with stakeholders in Lagos, Emeka Mba, director general of the NBC revealed the commission’s readiness to work with MIPCOM, a TV and entertainment market, essentially a content forum for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content.
MIPCOM provides the people involved in the TV, film, digital and audiovisual content, production and distribution industry a market and networking forum to discover future trends and trade content rights on a global level.
Mba who emphasised the importance of Nigeria being part of MIPCOM and hosting Africast-which held October 21 and 23 in Abuja- said every stakeholder must take advantage of the opportunities that come with digitization even as the transition date to digital broadcasting gets closer.
According to him, Nigeria could better monetize its content production and be the audio-visual hub of the continent, as there is no other African country with a better potential.
The NBC, he said, really wants to reposition Africast as a reference point for the best of equipment and a destination for content every year, so that producers can find a market for their works.
“I believe that Nigeria is the hub of creative industry in Africa, what is missing is how to make money from it.”
He enjoined practitioners to be open-minded, as it will change the way business is done in the sector.
Mba stated that Africast 2014 is coming at a crucial time for the broadcast industry as the country switches over from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting and works towards the grant of content provider and signal distributor licenses.
“We need to work together to realize the vision and a more dynamic industry. The idea of having the Nigeria stand at the Cannes Film Festival is critical because we need to join the global discussion and learn how these things are done professionally besides having the connection. We do have a vision about what the future of television in Nigeria should be but that can only be achieved through collective efforts and not by NBC alone,” Mba argued.
With the target date of January 1, 2015 of digitisation, the NBC boss maintained that content will play a crucial, driving role in the success of a digital broadcasting environment as indicated by the theme: Digital Broadcasting Content: Production, Sourcing and Delivery.