THE Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa-Musawa, has revealed plans to transform Nigeria’s creative space with a goal of contributing $100 billion to Nigeria’s GDP by 2030.
She also said the eight-point agenda she introduced in her ministry is already driving the pursuit of the projection.
Musa-Musawa made the revelation during an interaction with journalists.
“One of the things that we looked at in terms of the potential of the industry was its ability to create an economic expansion. We came up with a very ambitious goal of trying to contribute at least $100 billion to increase the GDP by 2030 or 2031. It has the potential to bring in economic growth,” she stated.
She said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu created the ministry to diversify the nation’s economy.
“He is committed to diversifying from our normal means of revenue, which is oil. In that diversification, he created this amazing ministry – art, culture, and the creative economy – the first of its kind in Nigeria.
“When I got this job, I decided to approach it from a ground zero point of view because I really felt that not much had been done in the space, to create a fortifying sort of industry-specific structure.
“The basic things that are needed to put a foundation were not there, so we approached it from a ground zero perspective.
“In doing that, I came up with an eight-point agenda. That eight-point agenda hammers on making Nigeria a global creativity hub, engaging in skill acquisition for members of the industry and capacity building so that they will be better positioned for job creation.”
The eight-point agenda, the minister said, includes but may not be limited to, “capacity building/training of individuals across the sector; public-private partnerships (PPP) for infrastructure renovation/construction; partnerships and collaborations; job creation; GDP contribution; cultural heritage; soft power; and stakeholder engagement.”
Musawa said, “Policy framework is central when you talk about building a foundation. We decided to look at all the policies that are needed. The issue of culture policy, creative economy policy, and infrastructure policy. These are some things that we felt are very important.”
On job creation, the minister said, “We hope to create at least two million jobs by 2027. That is our hope, and I think with what we have done so far, we will be able to do that. Part of our own mandate is to engage the younger demography in almost everything that we do. This is all part of job creation, and I have all my agencies pursuing that goal.”
She also said there are plans to establish creative hubs in the six geo-political zones of the country.