…Projects $100b investment
The newly established Creative and Tourism Infrastructure Corporation has a projected investment of $100 billion and the potential to generate over two million jobs, the Minister of Culture, Art, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa has said.
Musawa also said the Ministry has set a target of 500,000 new
jobs to be created by the sector by 2030.
Currently, the minister said that the ministry has been able to attract $300 million investment into the sector.
She made the disclosure on Friday at the Ministerial Press Briefing, where she reeled out programmes carried out in the last eighteen months under the Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
She briefed alongside the Minister of Works, David Umahi, Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev. The Minister of Informationa and National Orientation, Idri Mihammed is the Coordinator of the Ministerial Press Briefing, a platform presented for the Ministers to give account of their stewardship.
Musawa who took turn to address the general public on Friday said: “In just 18 months, we have secured over $300 million in investment commitments and established innovative funding mechanisms, like the Creative Economy Development Fund. And we have created infrastructure that will generate at least 2 million jobs. And we have elevated Nigeria’s global cultural standard while also encouraging rural communities, women and youth, to participate mainly in the creative economy.”
She further explained: “So we have established the Creative and Tourism Infrastructure Corporation, a special purpose vehicle that was approved by the National Executive Council and with the projected investment of $100 billion and potential to contribute significantly can lead to the creation of over 2 million jobs.
“We have already committed to 500,000 jobs. 257,754 jobs have been created in 2024 in the sector.”
She said the information can be confirmed at the National Bureau of Statistics “and it’s an increase of employment across the full spectrum of not only the creative sector but the cultural and the tourism sector as well.
“300,000 to 557,754 in 2024. And additionally, 23,221 jobs were created in 2024 as a result of the establishment of over 20,000 new startups under the cultural and creative industries. Now, you must understand that when we talk about job creation, it’s really across the full value chain.”
She said there has been an increase in employment across the creative, cultural and the tourism sectors.
She stressed that this will continue to be the trend as a result of other ongoing activities like the Creatively Acceleration Programme, the Abuja Creative City, the IP Policy that we have engaged a number of creatives in trying to build.
“So, it’s really within the full value chain. And like I said, our target is 2 million jobs by 2027,” she added.
The.mimister stressed that the idea behind the Abuja Creative City right is to create a “ one-stop shop that will make Nigeria the cultural capital of not only Africa but of the world.”
She explained that an agreement has been signed and we’ve already started.
She also revealed that a series of agreements have been signed with some countries who have shown interest in Nigeria’s content.
She said: “So the Nigerian Corporation Advancement and the Audiovisual Co-Production Agreements. We have signed with Brazil, with South Africa and France. And we’re talking to Morocco, India, Pakistan, Spain, Italy and Namibia.
“They are all interested in our content and we are ready to work with them as long as it brings value back into Nigeria.”
The Minister who listed funding constraints as a major challenge confronting the sector, however said the ministry has been able to raise $300million for the creative sector through creative ideas.
“We have had to be very creative in looking at ways that we bring funding because there is no funding to support our ability to really add the infrastructure and some of the policies.
“So Mr. President, in his vision, has really supported us to go out and be creative and we have been able to do that by raising at least $300 million for the creative industry. And the global competition.
“Mr President wants us to use this industry to add growth and we have committed to increasing the GDP by $100 billion by 2030. We have secured, presently, a $200 million commitment from NEXIM Bank to accelerate the building of cultural and creative industries.”
Musawa also said they are about to deliver an arena for concert purposes, something she said has been lacking in the country.
She explained that the country does not have a suitable place for concerts.
“I would be glad to tell you that we are just about to deliver an arena. As a Nigerian, if you want to watch a concert of Afrobeats, soon, with a Nigerian, you don’t have to travel outside the country to Ghana or Rwanda. Very soon we will have a global standard arena whereby your greats, your likes of Davido, and the likes of Burner Boy, and the likes of Beyonce, and the likes of Coldplay can come to the centre of creativity and the centre of Afrobeats to play.
“We will be delivering that arena to you very, very soon. And with the data, like I said, the data is key. Some of the other projects that we have just recently finalised on is the renovation of the Nigeria House in Bahia and the Renewable Arts Pavilion, which is a major milestone for a national museum here in Nigeria”.
She further added that “The greatest black nation of the world that has all the content that everyone is interested in should not be living without a museum in its capital. So there will be a museum here in Abuja. And that project will be started within the next three months.”
The Minister also said the government is going to build creative hubs across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
He added, “We have already started working on three now. And soon there will be creative hubs.”
She also said that ministry as part of the data initiative, D30, “is conducting a mapping that will offer an open source data infotainment and digitalisation to target setting investment prioritisation and programme design across Nigeria’s creative economy.”
Other achievements under this administration also include: The launch of the Destination 2030, Nigeria everywhere; Motherland 2025 initiative, which is aimed at reconnecting Nigeria in the diaspora with their roots and positioning Nigeria as a global tourism hub during the festive season and beyond; Securing three UNESCO inscriptions for the Shango Festival in Oyo and the Kano-Jaro Festival in Waifu, skills and practises at the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. And we were able to do that last year and I want to congratulate Nigerians for that. And once again, we have also secured the host of the 1968 meeting of the United Nations Tourism Commission for Africa’s Path and this will be held in Abuja from the 11th to the 13th of June.
“And my hope is that it will be a global outing and a successful one for Nigeria. And we are also organising a cultural event of the United Nations Assembly, UNGA, for 2025,” the minister added.
She stated further: “Our strategic partnerships, sparring government agencies, international organisations and private sector leaders have positioned Nigeria’s tourism and creative sectors not just as an alternative to world dependency but as a vibrant, inclusive economic pillar capable of addressing our nation’s most pressing challenges. Mr. President has asked us to bring economic growth. He has asked us to create jobs.He has asked us to reposition Nigeria. And I can tell you that is exactly what the Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy is doing.”