Creative Industry Can Become Nigeria’s ‘Next Oil’ – Lai Mohammed

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has identified Nigeria’s creative industry as a major alternative to crude oil, saying the sector could generate millions of jobs and significantly accelerate economic growth.

Mohammed made the assertion on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting involving the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, and other stakeholders.

The meeting focused on strategies for harnessing Nigeria’s creative economy as part of efforts to achieve President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ambition of expanding the country’s economy to $1 trillion by 2030.

Mohammed, who is the Managing Partner of Bruit Costaud, a consulting firm involved in preparations for the forthcoming National Summit and Exhibition on the Orange Economy, said Nigeria must diversify its economic base by investing heavily in creative and cultural enterprises.

According to him, industries such as film, music, fashion, gastronomy, publishing and sports have enormous economic value and should be treated as strategic sectors.

“I have always said it when I was a minister that our next oil is actually the creative industry – it’s our films, music, gastronomy, fashion, publishing, sports and others,” he said.

Mohammed described the Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy as one of the country’s most important ministries because of its capacity to generate employment and stimulate economic activity.

He also expressed his organisation’s readiness to collaborate with NIPSS on the proposed National Summit and Exhibition on the Orange Economy, which is expected to attract stakeholders from across Nigeria’s creative and cultural sectors.

Earlier, the Director-General of NIPSS, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, said the institute had aligned its research activities with the Federal Government’s objective of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

Omotayo said NIPSS had examined various sectors capable of providing the economic leverage required to achieve the target, adding that the creative economy was one of the areas with significant untapped potential.

He explained that the institute selected the creative sector because arts, culture, tourism and related activities are deeply connected to the social and economic lives of Nigerians.

According to him, the creative industry has not received sufficient policy and research attention despite its growing global importance.

He said technological advancement had created new opportunities for the arts and culture sector, making it necessary for Nigeria to develop policies capable of taking advantage of emerging trends.

Omotayo disclosed that NIPSS participants had undertaken study visits to countries including Ghana, The Gambia, Angola, Botswana, Ethiopia, China, India, Singapore, Portugal, Spain and Poland to examine how other nations had developed and monetised their creative economies.

He said findings from the institute’s research suggested that Nigeria’s creative industry could contribute about $250 billion to the economy, with the figure potentially rising to $450 billion if the sector was properly structured and supported.

Also speaking, Musawa said the Federal Government was determined to reposition the arts, culture and tourism sector as a key driver of economic development under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

The minister said the sector could make a significant contribution towards achieving the administration’s $1 trillion economic ambition.

“When the President speaks about trying to increase the GDP to $1 trillion, we believe that this ministry and this industry have the potential of really adding to that,” Musawa said.

She disclosed that the ministry had established four committees to develop policies and strategies, oversee programmes and implementation, strengthen stakeholder engagement, and improve monitoring and evaluation.

According to her, the committees would help establish the institutional and financial framework needed to unlock the full economic potential of the creative sector.

Musawa also welcomed the proposed National Summit and Exhibition on the Orange Economy, pledging the ministry’s cooperation with NIPSS and other stakeholders.

She said the ministry would serve as a technical partner and help ensure that recommendations emerging from the summit and NIPSS research are translated into practical policies capable of improving the fortunes of creative practitioners and tourism operators nationwide.

The National Summit and Exhibition on the Orange Economy is scheduled to take place from October 6 to 8, 2026, at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, formerly known as the National Theatre, in Iganmu, Lagos.

The event is expected to bring together stakeholders from music, film, publishing, aviation, hospitality, sports, fashion, visual arts, dance, copyright, gastronomy and tourism to develop strategies for building a stronger, more organised and globally competitive Nigerian creative economy.