BoI secures N300m loan for Nigeria’s Creative Industry – VP Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced that the Bank of Industry(BoI), has secured a N300 million loan for Nigerian creatives. The loan is also in partnership with the National Council for Arts and Culture.

This was disclosed by Laolu Akande, an aide to the Vice President, in a statement, on Sunday, in Abuja,  after the Vice President attended the opening of the Ogidi Studios a Lagos-based world-class creative complex, hosting recording, film production, animation, and writing studios, owned by the Temple Company.

“Last year, the Federal Government handed over the control of the National Theatre to the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee.

” The Bankers’ Committee has committed to an investment of N25 billion, as initial funding for the development of the Nigeria Creative Centre at the National Theatre, Lagos.

“The sector will receive support from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Creative Industry Funds Initiative, an initiative that gives financial support to the technology and creative sector at single-digit interest rates.

“The Bank of Industry, in collaboration with the National Council for Arts and Culture, has also secured a N300 million loan package for the creative sector, the package provides the funds to the sector at single-digit interest rates with a tenor of four to five years,” he added.

Osinbajo said that studios like Ogidi would bring world-class video and sound production capacity to Nigeria, citing that stars from around the world, “have a place in Lagos that is as good as any studio they have ever recorded in. World-class script writing, music recording, video making, and editing”

“The entire value chain in music and entertainment can now be local. So, we are at the cusp of a revolution in entertainment production, creative talent and services, and a major economic opening for business in Nigeria,” he added.

Recall last year that Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, launched the Committee for the implementation of COVID-19 palliatives to Nigeria’s creative industry, with the aim of designing a plan to boost productivity in the sector during and after the pandemic.

Suzan O/NAN