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The Federal Government has unveiled an ambitious roadmap to create 2 million new jobs in Nigeria’s creative economy by 2030, positioning culture, entertainment, innovation and intellectual property as increasingly important drivers of national economic growth.
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The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa-Musawa, disclosed the target at the closing session of the 2026 Kano Creative Summit, where she outlined the government’s strategy to transform Nigeria’s vast creative talent into sustainable businesses, jobs and export opportunities.
The initiative is being pursued under the government’s Destination 2030 programme and an integrated eight-point policy framework aligned with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Kano’s Creative Economy Predates the Policy
Musawa used Kano’s deep cultural history to illustrate why Nigeria’s creative economy cannot be understood solely through the lens of contemporary entertainment.
She noted that Kano had developed sophisticated creative and commercial traditions centuries before the term “creative economy” became part of modern economic policy.
The city’s dyeing pits, leatherwork, weaving, embroidery, blacksmithing, traditional performances and Kannywood film industry represent longstanding creative assets that, with stronger commercial structures and market access, could generate significantly greater economic value.
“Kano had a creative economy long before anyone gave the name creative economy to the industry,” she said.
The minister also pointed to Kano’s literary heritage, noting that women in the city were writing, printing and selling novels in local markets as far back as 1958. She further referenced artists associated with the Zaria Art Society, whose work contributed to the evolution of modern Nigerian art.
From Talent to Sustainable Creative Businesses
According to Musawa, Nigeria does not suffer from a shortage of creative talent. The bigger challenge is converting talent into sustainable livelihoods.
She identified weak commercial structures, inadequate ownership systems and limited market access among the factors preventing many creative practitioners from fully benefiting from their work.
“Talent has never been a problem here,” she said.
The minister warned that traditional craft practitioners are increasingly abandoning their occupations because the income generated from their work is often insufficient to sustain their livelihoods.
The government’s strategy therefore seeks to move the creative economy beyond talent development towards professionalisation, commercialisation, intellectual property ownership and access to markets.
Destination 2030 Takes Creative Opportunities Beyond Lagos
A major component of the government’s strategy is geographical inclusion.
By taking the creative economy conversation to Kano, the government is seeking to demonstrate that Nigeria’s creative industries should not remain concentrated around traditional hubs such as Lagos and Abuja.
Northern Nigeria, with its extensive cultural heritage, traditional crafts, film industry, fashion, literature and performing arts, represents a potentially significant source of new creative businesses and employment.
The broader Destination 2030 vision is to enable communities across the North, South, East and West to participate in creative-sector growth while strengthening Nigeria’s cultural identity and global economic presence.
Intellectual Property Becomes a Business Asset
The government is also urging creative practitioners to change how they view their intellectual property.
Rather than treating creative works simply as artistic output, practitioners are being encouraged to recognise copyright, licensing, brands, designs and other intellectual property as economic assets capable of generating recurring revenue.
Licensing and other commercial arrangements could enable creators to earn from their work beyond the initial transaction, creating more sustainable models for creative businesses.
Government Pushes Professionalisation
The ministry is also advocating stronger business discipline among young creatives.
Creative entrepreneurs are being encouraged to formally register their businesses, maintain proper financial records, understand contractual obligations and separate personal finances from corporate accounts.
Such measures, the government believes, can improve the ability of creative enterprises to attract investment, enter commercial partnerships and scale beyond informal operations.
The ministry is also encouraging artists and industry workers to organise through guilds and professional associations, strengthening their collective bargaining power and helping establish better terms and protections across the industry.
Data to Drive Nigeria’s Creative Economy
Another pillar of the strategy is better data.
The government is collaborating with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to improve the mapping and measurement of Nigeria’s creative economy, recognising that accurate data is essential for investment, policymaking and job creation.
The fashion industry alone, according to the ministry’s figures, employs more than four million Nigerians, illustrating the scale of economic activity that can exist within creative subsectors even when it is not fully captured by conventional economic measurements.
Afrobeats, Nollywood and Kannywood Power Global Reach
Nigeria already possesses some of Africa’s most globally recognisable creative brands.
Afrobeats has become a major global music phenomenon, generating international streams, audiences and commercial opportunities for Nigerian artists and businesses.
Nollywood remains one of the world’s most prolific film industries, while Kannywood has developed its own significant cultural and commercial influence, particularly across Northern Nigeria and wider West Africa.
Fashion and design are also emerging as major components of Nigeria’s creative economy, combining local cultural identity with increasingly international audiences.
The government wants to convert this global cultural influence into more structured economic value through stronger businesses, intellectual property protection, investment and market access.
$100 Billion Ambition for the Creative Economy
The federal government’s longer-term ambition is to grow the creative economy into a $100 billion contributor to Nigeria’s GDP by 2030, alongside the creation of 2 million additional jobs.
The strategy is supported by initiatives including the proposed $100 million Creative Economy Development Fund, intended to improve access to financing for creative enterprises.
The government is also seeking to strengthen Nigeria’s intellectual property ecosystem through legal and institutional reforms, while regional infrastructure—including the presence of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) office in Abuja—is expected to support stronger IP awareness and protection.
Turning Nigeria’s Culture Into Economic Power
The challenge for Nigeria is no longer demonstrating that its creative industries possess global appeal. Afrobeats, Nollywood, fashion, visual arts and indigenous cultural industries have already established that.
The bigger challenge is building the commercial infrastructure around that talent.
Destination 2030 represents an attempt to address that gap by connecting creative talent with finance, intellectual property, professional structures, data, technology and global markets.
If successfully implemented, the strategy could transform creative activity that has historically operated informally into a more structured economic engine—creating jobs while allowing Nigerian communities to monetise their culture and strengthen the country’s influence in the global creative economy.
