The Nigerian Film Industry

The Nigerian Film industry has grown rapidly to become the third largest film producing industry in the world after Bollywood in India and Hollywood in the US. With the production of over 500 movie titles per year, Nollywood, as the Nigerian film industry has come to be known, is beginning to attract the attention of global cinema and it is increasingly seen as one of Nigeria 's positive cultural contributions to the international community.

In a classic case of leapfrogging, Nollywood is almost completely digitally based. With revenues estimated at $200 – 250 million annually, the industry developed in the late 1980's when the depreciation of the local currency made foreign film imports extremely expensive. Today, over 1000 movies are produced annually with an average production budget of $15,000 - $25,000 with most movies directly for the home video market. Shooting time is on average between 10 - 14 days and quality is variable. On average, movies sell about 20,000 - 40,000 copies but best sellers (e.g. Osuofia in London ) sell between 200,000 to 400,000 copies. The industry, unlike most other African film industries, is not subsidized by any national or foreign governments. Nigerian films are increasing popular throughout the continent (e.g. top talent now command fees of up to $20-30,000/day for personal appearances in other African countries) and are now been shown on the growing cable networks in the continent, and special screenings in the US and the UK.

The genre varies from romance, thrillers, witchcraft, and religious. Interestingly, the export market does not only consist of the English films (form about 65% of titles) but films in one of the three major languages appear to be popular. The financing and distribution systems are being developed with relatively minimal support from formal sources such as banks.

With 600 million Africans increasingly engaging in the digital revolution (e.g. mobile phones are doubling annually in Nigeria) and increasing cable access, a growing African Diaspora and a thirst for alternative content, the Nigerian film industry may be poised for even further growth if the right investments to improve quality of talent, production and distribution are made. Significant efforts of the government to tackle regulatory issues including those related to piracy would also be essential.

The Nollywood industry, which at this point employs well over 300,000 Nigerians, provides a glimpse of the huge potential for non-natural resource based development that exists in Nigeria and other African countries.