FG seeks to boost community cinemas, grants licensing waivers to investors

By Tosin Brown

The Honorable Minister of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, Barrister Hanatu Musa Musawa, has approved a licensing waiver for investors seeking to establish cottage or community cinemas across Nigeria.

The development was announced by Dr. Husseini Shaibu, Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB), during a meeting with stakeholders in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

According to Shaibu, the waiver aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agenda of creating a more favorable business environment and encouraging investment in the creative sector. It also fits with Musawa’s vision of providing incentives that not only enhance government revenue but also foster job creation for Nigerian youths and generate income for filmmakers.

“Musawa has been passionate and relentless in her efforts to reposition Nigeria as Africa’s creative capital and a global hub for creative talent,” Shaibu emphasized, noting that the waiver is expected to have a significant positive impact on the lower levels of the cinema exhibition industry.

Shaibu explained that this policy move, along with other incentives from the Minister, will likely drive the expansion of cinema screens and increase local screenings of Nollywood films.

“Following the Minister’s approval, the NFVCB has granted provisional approval for an investor to test run a community cinema project for a period of 12 months. If the pilot is successful, we will recommend the expansion of licensing waivers to further open the film exhibition space, especially for local content,” Shaibu said.

While advocating for the establishment of community cinemas as an accessible way to bring cinema goers back to the big screen, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, he revealed that the idea of waivers was informally discussed during a roundtable on morality and ethics in film production in Lagos.

Drawing comparisons with other countries, like India, where community cinemas coexist with larger, more established ones, Shaibu suggested that Nigeria’s cinema operators could collaborate with community cinema owners to provide a distinct cinematic experience to audiences in towns and villages.

He also highlighted that, after aggregating the demands and requests of stakeholders, the Board approached Minister Musawa, who granted the waiver request the same day. The approval is seen as a strategic move that will invigorate the film industry by offering necessary incentives to cinema companies.

Shaibu further disclosed that the NFVCB has submitted a proposal to the Minister for a reduction in exhibition and distribution licensing fees to further stimulate growth within the sector.

He described these initiatives as part of Musawa’s broader strategy to ignite investment and transform Nigeria’s creative economy.

Shaibu further praised the Minister’s support, noting that the NFVCB had already received approval to implement a series of reforms aimed at streamlining operations within the film industry. Among these reforms is the reduction of classification turnaround times for films and video content, with full-length features now classified within 48 hours and short content, such as skits and music videos, classified the same day.

“We’ve also introduced online submission systems to make it easier for filmmakers and content creators to submit their works for classification,” Shaibu said, underscoring the Board’s commitment to maintaining industry standards for both traditional and digital platforms.