Amazon Collaborates with Nigeria on Content Production

An American Video on-demand and streaming service, Amazon Prime Video is in talks with the Nigerian government on how it can acquire and start producing Nigerian local contents that will stream to the entire world.

The global video streaming company, with about 200 million subscribers, has held the first stage of talks with Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Arts, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Lai Mohamed.

According to the Minister, Amazon Prime Video is aware of the success of Nollywood as Nigeria gradually becomes a force to reckon with in the film industry.

“Part of our discussion is we need more of capacity building and long term investment in the industry. They also plan to train our young actors and actresses and also give better technical assistance so that we can produce better films that can win oscars and other awards,” the Minister said.

The Director and Head of Worldwide Major Studio Licensing Strategy at Amazon Prime Video, Ayanna Lonian, expressed delight to the positive outcome of the meeting with the Nigerian government.

He said they were ready to work with the Nigerian government to create great results.

“We are still in the early stage of our Amazon prime videos service stay point and we are here to discuss, to learn, to get the advice and the benefits from the government so we can understand how we can collaborate together for the betterment of the film, the media and entertainment ecosystem here in Nigeria,” she said.

“We are ready to elevate and show case the best of content that originate here in Nigeria, whether we are talking Nollywood content or Kannywood,” she added.

Confidence Okwuchi