THE RISE OF THE CULTURE ECONOMY One of the pieces of baggage of colonization is that colonized people tend to think of their culture as inferior. In calculating elements that contribute to economic growth, improved trade and enhanced quality of life for the people they thus seldom see elements of their culture as assets. It was understandable therefore that in the 1960’s and 70s foreign music, foreign films and fashion, and food from far away, dominated our world of style and entertainment. When the GDP rebasing exercise in Nigeria was completed earlier this year new insight into the composition of output per person in Nigeria confirmed that sectors based on selling culture, symbolized by the motion picture in industry, Nollywood, became a significant source of value creation in the economy. I felt personally vindicated by the new status for an industry that emerged with hardly any support from policy making at the top. I had argued for nearly 20 years that packaging and marketing culture was a critical area of Nigeria’s global competiveness. As Nollywood emerged from out of work television crews and actors into a film industry that had captured the imagination across the continents I began a support effort that included free workshops and seminars at the Lagos Business School for the industry and evangelizing the need to rethink the distribution business model for Nollywood. I would become more excited with developments in the export of Nigerian music. When Gbenga Sesan sent me a text a year ago from Tanzania expressing his amazement at the following of P Square there I could not but imagine when parties in my time were nearly 100 percent foreign music and today is almost the exact opposite I felt good about a remark I made two decades ago that selling culture could fetch Nigeria more income than crude oil. Our style sections show how fashion is globalizing in Nigeria as Nollywood and Music stars open new paths. There is clearly now enough evidence of leadership in economic performance that can be emulated by other sectors, in the culture industry. At CVL, therefore, the culture industry had to follow ICT as a sector emerging from the shadows to become an exemplar. We are therefore proud to celebrate those who have shaped the character of this sector. From the pioneers and early adaptors like Eddie Ugboma in film, to one of the greatest political philosophers ever to use music as vehicle, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the celebration of the Entertainment industry at this CVL sector celebration is a reminder that the power of the spirit of enterprise writes the story of the triumph of the human spirit in economic life. It is celebration time. And it is deserved by this self propelled sector which got no attention until lately. When the federal government set up a committee for a film fund during the tenures of Frank Nweke Jnr as Minister of information and Deji Adesanya as Managing Director of the film Fund, I was asked to be Chairman of the committee. The outcome was band aid compared to the needs, if we are to make a quantum leap on the possibilities. In celebrating we hope others playing along the value chains of areas of our factor endowments can profit from the impact of the merchants of culture in music, film, fashion and food. PU
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 21:10:08 +0000
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