FG unlocks $600m to finance creative, digital enterprises

The Federal Government is unlocking over $600m in financing for Nigeria’s digital and creative industries to support businesses, attract private investment and expand the sectors’ contribution to the economy.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, disclosed this on Thursday at the opening of the 2026 Creative Africa Nexus Weekend in Lagos, where she outlined the government’s investment and policy initiatives to strengthen the creative economy.

Oduwole said the financing was being facilitated through the Bank of Industry under the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises programme, with the leadership of the Office of the Vice-President.

“With the leadership of the Office of the Vice President, through the Bank of Industry, the Federal Government is unlocking over $600m in financing for digital and creative enterprises under the IDiCE programme,” she said.

The programme, known as iDICE, is a $617m Federal Government initiative implemented by the Bank of Industry in partnership with development finance institutions. It targets young Nigerian entrepreneurs and businesses in the technology and creative sectors through enterprise support, skills development, access to finance and infrastructure.

Oduwole said the government wanted to attract investment across the entire creative value chain, including performing arts, film, literature, gastronomy, fashion, sports, gaming, crafts, design, creative technology and infrastructure.

She added that Nigerian creatives were already engaging with institutional partners in Lagos to explore financing opportunities, expressing the government’s expectation that businesses across the different segments of the industry would secure investment deals.

“Our ambition is a deal from every part of the creative economy, from performing arts to film to literature to gastronomy to fashion to sports and gaming to craft and design to creative technology and infrastructure,” Oduwole said.

The financing initiative forms part of broader efforts by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to turn Nigeria’s growing creative influence into a commercially viable industry capable of attracting domestic and international capital.

Although Nigeria’s music and film industries have gained international recognition over the past two decades, with artists and filmmakers building audiences beyond the country, Oduwole said the government wanted more of the financial returns from that success to remain with Nigerian creatives and businesses.

She cited the investment in Mavin Records as an example of how institutional capital could generate returns from the country’s creative industry.

In 2019, Kupanda Capital and TPG Group invested more than $10m in the Nigerian music label founded by music executive Don Jazzy. Five years later, Universal Music Group acquired a majority stake in Mavin Records, providing an exit opportunity for TPG.

Oduwole said the transaction demonstrated that Nigerian creative businesses could attract institutional investors and deliver commercial returns.

“Today, when an investor asks a Nigerian filmmaker or music executive, how do I get my money back? They can point to the Mavin deal as a win for the investors in our creative economy,” she said.

“Yet, we need more of that profit to stay in the hands of more of our creatives, right here at home.”

To replicate such investment outcomes across the industry, the minister highlighted policy interventions aimed at improving market access, intellectual property protection and the availability of investment opportunities.

She said Nigeria was named co-champion of the African Continental Free Trade Area Protocol on Digital Trade in February 2025, a development that could expand opportunities for Nigerian creative businesses to sell services across African markets.

She explained that digital trade extended beyond conventional goods to include services such as music licensing, film distribution and production work delivered by Nigerian studios to clients across the continent.

Another intervention was the approval of Nigeria’s first National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy by the Federal Executive Council in November 2025. The policy was developed by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in collaboration with stakeholders across government, the private sector and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

According to Oduwole, the policy is intended to help Nigerians protect their intellectual property and generate income from their creative works.

She also disclosed that the government released its Creative Sector Investment Playbook at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026.

The document identifies investment opportunities across the industry, including financing for studios and the distribution of Nigerian content nationwide, providing investors with information on areas where capital could be deployed.

Beyond financing and policy reforms, Oduwole said the government was working to expand opportunities for Nigerian creative businesses to access regional and international markets.

She explained that Nigeria’s bid to host the 2027 Intra-African Trade Fair was part of this broader strategy to promote the country’s creative and commercial potential.

According to her, the process began in November 2024, when President Tinubu approved Nigeria’s bid to host the continent’s largest trade fair in 2027.

The timing was linked to the 50th anniversary of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, FESTAC ’77, as well as the reopening and renaming of the National Theatre as the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts.

She said the hosting opportunity would provide a platform to showcase Nigerian businesses, cultural products and investment opportunities to African and international markets.

The growing scale of the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend also reflected the government’s ambition to position Nigeria as a major destination for creative industry investment and partnerships.

Oduwole disclosed that the 2026 CANEX event had attracted significantly more participants than its previous edition, with registration stopped after reaching 17,000 people, compared with 6,000 at the last event.

“We beat every record with this CANEX. The last CANEX had 6,000 people. We had to stop registration at 17,000 people,” she said.

She described the hosting of the event as a whole-of-government effort involving the Federal Government, the Lagos State Government, private sector partners, Afreximbank and the Nigerian Creative Advisory Council.

Oduwole said the government’s objective was to ensure that the country’s creative talent translated into jobs, commercial opportunities and shared prosperity, rather than remaining primarily a source of international recognition.

“This bid was for every young Nigerian who sees a future in this industry. This bid was for jobs, for the economy, and shared prosperity,” she said.

Speaking at the event, Vice-President Kashim Shettima said the Federal Government was working to strengthen intellectual property protection, widen access to finance for creative businesses, and position Nigeria to lead creative trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area.

He described creativity as an increasingly important trade sector, arguing that African countries needed to move beyond celebrating their cultural products to building businesses and generating commercial returns from them.

“From FESTAC ’77 to CANEX 2026, Africa returns to the same stage, but we return with a difference. In 1977, we came to celebrate our culture. In 2026, we come to capitalise it, to turn the applause of the world into contracts, its admiration into markets, and the talent of our young people into enduring wealth,” Shettima said.

The Vice-President commended Afreximbank for supporting the continent’s creative industries, disclosing that the bank had committed $2bn to the sector through 2027.

He also cited the previous CANEX edition in 2024, which attracted nearly 4,000 participants from 81 countries and facilitated deals worth more than $540m.

Shettima said the figures demonstrated the commercial potential of the creative economy and the need for African governments and investors to provide businesses with the financing and market access required to grow.

He urged creatives attending the Lagos gathering to use the event to secure commercial partnerships and distribution agreements rather than leave with only memories of the gathering.

“To our creatives, do not leave Lagos with memories alone. Leave with a signed term sheet, a distribution deal, and a buyer’s handshake. The world is ready to pay for what you make,” he said.

He also called on investors to support emerging creative businesses, saying the next generation of global creative companies could emerge from Africa.

The Vice-President further urged African governments to reduce barriers to trade within the continent, particularly those affecting creative businesses seeking to distribute their products and receive payments across African markets.

He said Nigeria’s hosting of CANEX was significant because of the country’s established presence in music, film, fashion and other creative industries, adding that the exhibition would provide a foundation for the country’s hosting of the fifth Intra-African Trade Fair in Lagos in 2027.