The Oracle: Entertainment, the Next Hope for Nigeria After Oil (Pt. 1)

By Prof Mike Ozekhome

INTRODUCTION

Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience, or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousands of years specifically for the purpose of keeping an audience’s attention (The Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 1971, Vol. 1 pp. 213–4)).

According to Wikipedia, Entertainment is any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time, and may also provide fun, enjoyment and laughter. People may create their own entertainment, such as when they spontaneously invent a game; participate actively in an activity they find entertaining, such as when they play sport as a hobby; or consume an entertainment product passively, such as when they attend a performance (Wikipedia, Outline of entertainment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outline_of_entertainment).

The entertainment industry (informally known as show business or show biz) is part of the tertiary sector of the economy and includes a large number of sub-industries devoted to entertainment. However, the term is often used in the mass media to describe the mass media companies that control the distribution and manufacture of mass media entertainment. In the popular parlance, the term show biz in particular connotes the commercially popular performing arts, especially musical theatre, vaudeville, comedy, film, and music. It applies to every aspect of entertainment including cinema, television, radio, theatre and music.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE DEMAND FOR LEISURE

Leisure time has been a determining factor in the development of recreation and entertainment as an industry. Entertainment has grown as an industry in step with increased income and time available for leisure and recreation. Economic development, often quantified in terms of productivity or output per person-hour, has enabled goods and services to be produced with fewer labor inputs. The growth of the entertainment industries has been directly related to the development of a modern economy and rising economic productivity, though precise estimation of the demand for leisure is a thorny task (Owen, John D. 1971. The Demand for Leisure. Journal of Political Economy 79 (1): 56–76.). An important issue in the development of entertainment as an industry is the rising productivity of workers, and in particular the ways in which technical progress has increased worker productivity. Progress in technology, in addition to creating the demand for entertainment products and services, has also led to the creation of much of the dominant forms of contemporary entertainment (Thomson Gale. Loc cit.).

THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY: GROWTH AND PROGRESS

The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the entertainment and media spending worldwide has been predicted between 2014 and 2019, by sector. Of the 13 sectors that make up the Entertainment and Media industry, film will grow at the seventh-fastest pace worldwide. The fastest is Internet advertising, which will grow 13.1 percent annually from 2013-2017. Print will bring up the rear, with magazine publishing growing at 0.3 percent, while the newspaper industry remains flat. A milestone will occur in 2016, when the global E&M category becomes a $2 trillion industry (http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/global/1565728/study-global-entertainment-industry-poised-to-top-2-trillion-in).

Despite forecasts revealing that online formats will experience the most annual growth, a further breakdown of worldwide entertainment and media revenue in 2009, 2013 and 2018, by platform reveals that non-digital platforms such as magazine and newspaper publishing will continue to dominate. In 2009, digital revenue for the industry totaled 342 billion U.S. dollars and non-digital revenue totaled 1,038 billion U.S. dollars. By 2018, it is expected that digital revenue will total 994 billion.

Entertainment as an industry—in the United States alone—is responsible each year for $150 billion in expenditures and some 120 billion hours of consumed time (Vogel, Harold L. 1998. Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis. 4th ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.). Entertainment as an economic sector consists of diverse products and services including motion pictures, television, music, broadcasting, print media, toys, gaming, gambling, sports, and fine arts (Thomson Gale, Entertainment industry. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences 2008.). In 2017, Americans will buy 1.3 billion movie tickets and pay an average price of $9.60 for them, according to PwC, representing a slow growth of 1.3 percent a year in admissions and 2 percent a year in ticket prices stateside.

Based on PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook, the global E&M industry, following a pandemic-related decline in 2020, has experienced a period of significant growth. The industry in 2026 has reached an approximate growth rate of US$3 trillion in revenues.

Following a 2.3% decline in 2020, the industry saw a 10.4% rebound in 2021. Global advertising revenue has increased to $1 trillion in 2026, with digital advertising continuing to grow, at a 6.6% or higher CAGR

The Key Growth Drivers of the entertainment industry in Nigeria today includes but not limited to:
Video Games: Global video games and esports revenue, totaling US$215.6bn in 2021, is forecasted to grow at an 8.5% CAGR to reach US$323.5bn in 2026.
Over-the-top (OTT) Video: Expected to grow at a 7.6% CAGR through 2026, pushing revenues to US$114.1bn.
Cinema: Projected to reach a new high in 2023, with revenues rising at an 18.9% CAGR from 2021 to 2026.
Virtual Reality (VR): Forecasted to grow at a 24% CAGR to US$7.6bn in 2026.

The Emerging markets continue to lead with higher CAGRs, including Turkey (estimated 14.2%), Argentina (10.4%), India (9.1%), and Nigeria (8.8%) between 2021 and 2026. In contrast, however, traditional TV has declined at a -0.8% CAGR from 2021 to 2026.

THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY OF NIGERIA

Nigeria’s entertainment industry is a booming global force, led by Nollywood (the film industry), the world’s second-largest by volume, and a vibrant music sector (Afrobeats), both driving significant economic growth, international cultural influence, and job creation, despite ongoing challenges like piracy and rising production costs, with streaming and digital platforms fueling its massive expansion.

Entertainment serves as a major force for social and economic good, the sector provides, educates, and releases stress. The Nigerian entertainment industry is a major economic driver, (a rapidly expanding global powerhouse), with revenues expectation of $4.9 billion in 2026. The sector contributes significantly to GDP, with over ₦1.97 trillion generated in 2023. Digital streaming and social media are major drivers, connecting local talent to international audiences.

The Entertainment industry in Nigeria comprise of the film sector, the music sector, the comedy sector, the fashion and the art sector. The Nollywood veteran, Richard Mofe Danmijo, while delivering a speech at Professor Pat Utomi’s Annual Lecture, on 15th January, 2015, titled: “Impact of Entertainment on Nigeria’s Economy”, surmised the contribution of the Entertainment sector to the economy of Nigeria in this way: “Nollywood, the film and video segment, is the clear leader. In the last couple of years, our music has taken the world by storm. Our art is making in-roads into the global marketplace. Fashion has set its footstool in the global arena. Life theatre has come alive and the new media has continued to make these different aspects of entertainment available to the world in real time,”

NOLLYWOOD

According to Wikipedia, the emergence of the video film market in Nigeria is traced back to the 1980s when television productions thrived. Jimi Odumosu’s Evil Encounter, a 1980 horror film released directly on television, was the first production to be a pointer to how lucrative making film directly on video can be (Wikipedia, Cinema of Nigeria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Nigeria). The film was extensively promoted before being aired on the television, and as a result, had streets flooded in the following morning with video copies of the recorded broadcast. It was reported that the film became an instant hit at Alaba market, a commercial district which later became the hub of video distribution in this period and also eventually became the hub of piracy in Nigeria. Since Evil Encounter, it became common, especially in Southern Nigerian cities to see video copies of recorded television programmes traded on the streets (History of Nollywood”. Nificon. Retrieved 15 October 2014. http://www.nificon.org/about/history-of-nollywood/).

This method was adopted and built on by producers and distributors at Alaba Market to reinvent the film industry, since the Nigerian cinema culture was facing a major decline. The first film produced on video in Nigeria was 1988’s SosoMeji, produced by Ade Ajiboye. The film was also screened at the few available theatres at the time. Subsequently, Alade Aromire produced Ekun (1989) on video, which was screened at the National Theatre, Iganmu (Emeagwali, Gloria (Spring 2004). “Editorial: Nigerian Film Industry”. Central Connecticut State University. Africa Update Vol. XI, Issue 2. Accessed January 30th, 2026) Emejulu, Obiajulu A.; Amadi, Dan Chima (December 2014). “Living in bondage: A dream deferred or a promise betrayed for Igbo linguistic and cultural renaissance?”. Academic Journals. International Journal of English and Literature. Retrieved 7 April 2015).

However, the boom experienced in this era is generally believed to have been kick started by Kenneth Nnebue’s Living in Bondage (1992). Nnebue had an excess number of imported video cassettes which he then used to shoot his first film on a Video camera (Nigeria’s film industry, The Economist”. Economist.com. 2006-07-27.). Although Living in Bondage is often touted in the media as the “first commercial video film”, several historians have argued that the video film industry was already booming before Living in Bondage (Nnabuko, J.O.; Anatsui, Tina C. (June 2012). “NOLLYWOOD MOVIES AND NIGERIAN YOUTHS-AN EVALUATION” (PDF). JORIND 10. 10 (2). ISSN 1596-8308. Retrieved 18 February 2015).

At the commencement of major boom in the 1990s, marked by the release of the direct-to-video film Living in Bondage (1992); the industry peaked in the mid 2000s to become the second largest film industry in the world in terms of the number of annual film productions, placing it ahead of the United States and behind only India. The films started dominating screens across the African continent and by extension, the Caribbeans and the Diaspora, with the movies significantly influencing cultures, and the film actors becoming household names across the continent.

According to Muyiwa Babarinde , the influence of Nigerian films has also crossed beyond the Nigerian borders (Op-Ed Editor and MuyiwaBabarinde, Y! Report: Nigeria’s emergence as Africa’s media and entertainment superpower. http://ynaija.com/y-report-nigerias-emergence-as-africas-media-and-entertainment-superpower/). Late Tayo Aderinokun, cofounder of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), in a 2004 speech said: “According to the Filmmakers Cooperative of Nigeria, every film in Nigeria has a potential audience of 15 million people within the country and 5 million outside. These statistics maybe somewhat conservative considering that half of West Africa’s 250 million people are Nigerians.” (TayoAderinokun, There are many untapped business opportunities in Nigerian film industry. Presentation made at the 50th Art Stampede Session of the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA) held at The National Theatre, Iganmu, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria on Sunday March 7th, 2004.).

To be continued…

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“The world is a stage, the stage is a world of entertainment”. -Howard Dietz