The revenue generating potential of Nigeria’s film industry otherwise known as Nollywood, was once again brought to the fore as the managing director of the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Robert Orya disclosed that the industry generated about N126.4bn ($800m) in the last three years, thus making it the third highest movie revenue earner in the world.
With a consistent production of over 2,400 yearly titles in the past three years – 2,408; 2,514; and 2,621 in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively, NEXIM has revealed that Nigeria is Africa’s biggest movie producer. A 2011 data from the Nigerian Film and Videos Census Board (NFVCB) indicated that 1,743 and 1,234 movies were respectively registered and approved. The percentages produced in 2012 in the main languages were English (44%), Yoruba (31%), Hausa (24%) and Igbo (1%).
Meanwhile, the global film and entertainment industry is reported to have raked in about N14.3trillion ($90.6billion) revenue in 2010, with an increased projection of N16.2trillion ($102billion) in 2012.
In global rankings, Hollywood still sets the pace closely followed by India’s Bollywood with Nollywood coming in at third place.