Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has urged Nigerian professionals to embrace animation technology to gain from the $300 billion global market.
The industry, Mohammed said, represents 25 per cent of the global audiovisual market.
The minister, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser Mr. Segun Adeyemi, spoke at the opening ceremony of the 7th African Digital TV Development Seminar in Beijing, China yesterday.
He stated that a developed animation industry in Nigeria will be a boost to the country’s already-established entertainment industry and make the country an outsourcing destination for global animation services.
“American animation has developed as America’s sixth largest pillar industry; in Japan, the animation industry has outperformed automobile, iron & steel industries to be the third largest industry; and South Korea has undertaken nearly one third of the global animation production business. Most of the segments in the animation industry are growing at the rate of 10per cent year over year, and some segments are growing at 15 per cent year on year.
“The output value of global animation industry has reached over US$300 billion, and animation related derivatives have exceeded US$500 billion.
“The animation industry has gradually become a pillar of the national economy and a new economic growth engine in some countries,’’ he said.
Mohammed said Nigeria, and indeed Africa, must move to grab a share of the pie by tapping into the animation boom, adding that Nigeria, in particular, has all the ingredients for a successful animation industry.
“(Nigeria) has a ready domestic audience and market. Nigeria has about 86.2 million people online, and that’s 46.1 per cent of the population, ranking it number one in Africa and number seven in the world. It has 44 million TV viewing homes in the country. Nigeria is expected to switch over to digital broadcasting when all 44 million homes have to invest in purchasing Set-Top Boxes.”
He said the Buhari administration is committed to developing the animation/creative industry into a new growth sector by promoting Nigeria’s creativity, and creating a highly-skilled workforce for the industry.
‘Nigerians can gain from animation tech’
