The Federal Government has promised investors in the Nigerian film and music industry a tax relief as it continues to intensify efforts to strengthen the country’s creative industry.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, announced this at the Creative Nigeria Summit where she represented the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as the key note speaker.
She acknowledged the potentials of the industry which is already captured at 1.42 per cent of the current GDP and said the government is willing to provide all necessary support to help the industry achieve its full potentials.
“We are looking at a situation where, like has been done in other countries, we provide tax reliefs for those who will invest in your industry, those who are ready to venture and risk,” Adeosun said.
“So, while you are seeing me running around looking for how to collect more tax, we are also, on the other hand, trying to see how we can incentivise people to invest.”
Although the minister said the intervention of the Federal Government was critical for the creative industry to achieve its potential, she, however, said direct funding by the government was not the way to go.
She said, “To grow this industry, to take it from the 1.42 percent that it is at the moment to its potential, which is probably around four to five (percent), we need to step in; we need to provide more support and we are going to do this.
“One of the things that are being considered is direct government funding but, clearly, you don’t actually need direct government funding. You need government to enable you to find your own funding because you have shown up until now that you have the ability to do that. We simply need to support you better.
“How can we do that? Finding better ways of harnessing and supporting your revenue streams because it is your revenue stream that makes your projects bankable. What we are looking at doing is that we’ve identified under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan three very critical industries of which creative is one.” – Channels.
