Nigeria’s Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has revealed that the country has “successfully secured €100 million in funding” from the French Treasury to support the development of “creative hubs across the nation.”
The announcement marks a “significant milestone” in the ministry’s efforts to boost the creative sector, which has been identified as a “key contributor” toward a projected “$100 billion increase” in the national GDP.
Speaking on the ministry’s “strategic plans” during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, Musawa emphasised the importance of “building infrastructure” to unlock the “full potential” of Nigeria’s creative industry.
She said, “So the hubs, we are working together with the French Treasury. We have been able to raise funding from the French Treasury. So it’s 100 million euros. That is a lot of money. And the ministry has been able to do that purely on the interest that the global community has in the Nigerian content and creativity. In terms of the hubs, we’ll be able to deliver that. And one of the things that has really impeded the ministry, obviously, is lack of funding.”
The funding will be used to construct “pilot creative hubs” in Lagos, Abuja, and Katsina, with plans to expand into Enugu, Kwara, and Akwa Ibom, and eventually establish a presence in “every state of the federation.” According to Musawa, these hubs will serve as spaces for “capacity building” and “community-based development” in various creative disciplines.
Despite a “challenging economic environment” and limited “domestic funding support,” Musawa noted that her ministry has had to be “innovative and resourceful.”
“As a nation, of course, we are going through challenges of funding. So, the ministry has really had not much support in terms of funding, but we’ve had to be very creative, because Mr. President is very committed. And you know, he is focused on ensuring that we deliver these jobs. And in order for us to deliver these jobs, we have to put the infrastructure in place.”
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Beyond the creative hubs, Musawa also highlighted several “ongoing infrastructure projects,” including the development of “creative arenas” in Abuja and Lagos, a “Creative City initiative” for which an MOU has already been signed, and “museum restoration efforts.”
She noted, “We have an arena, which we’ve already commissioned here. Not commissioned, we’ve broken ground. Hopefully in the next six months here in Abuja. We’re working on an arena in Lagos. There’s a number of infrastructure projects, of course, the Creative City, which we already signed an MOU for, the museums. So these are some of the infrastructure. If we had the funding in place, and I had had access to the funding, we would have delivered all these infrastructures.”
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