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UNEDITED:
THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY AND PRODUCTIVITY:
IMPLICATIONS FOR NATIONAL ECONOMY
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
BY
DR KASHIM AKOR
DIRECTOR-GENERAL
NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY CENTRE
ABUJA
AT THE CREATIVE CONVERSATION WITH TMJ LIVE EVENTS LOKOJA, KOGI STATE
1.0 Introduction
The creative industry is very essential to the economy of all nations given its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of states. Its productivity is therefore very important. It thus need the knowledge and practice of productivity for continuous improvement and competitiveness.
The creative industry in Nigeria is the second major creator of employment in the country after agriculture (Lai, 2017). The name creative industry refers to “those activities which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have the potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property” (DCMS, 1998 cited by Flew, 2011, p.9). On their part, the The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2008), conceptualizes the creative industry as the development, production and distribution of goods and services whose main input is creativity and intellectual capital which generate income from trade and intellectual property rights. The UNCTAD definition embraces different manifestations of creativity that afford room for economic exploitation. In addition, it highlights the role of the complex value chain required for the fulfillment of the creative industries economic function
On its part, the United Nations (2011) stated that the creative economy has become a driver of employment, economic growth, innovation and social cohesion in advanced countries, pointing out that the contemporary world is dominated by images, sounds, symbols and texts. Available data tend to support this view. In a study that covered 11 creative industry sectors across five regions of the world, EY (2015) estimates that, in 2013, the creative industry contributed US$2,250 billion to the global GDP and employed over 29 million people worldwide. Significantly, and contrary to expectations, the creative industries – which constituted a modest 3% of global GDP – yielded more revenues than traditional cash spinners like the Telecommunications sector.
The creative industry may also be referred to as the cultural industries (especially in Europe (Hesmondhalgh 2002, p. 14) or the creative economy (Howkins 2001), and most recently they have been denominated as the Orange Economy in Latin America and the Caribbean (Buitrago & Duque 2013). Globally, the industry sector is made up of 16 distinct industries:
advertising
architecture
visual art
crafts
fashion and textiles
design
performing arts
music
photography
film and video
computer games
radio and TV
writing and publishing
heritage
software/electronic publishing
cultural education
However, in an exercise carried out by the British Council to map the creative industry in Nigeria, the following were identified: advertising; architecture (interior décor, landscaping, etc.); arts and crafts; fashion and design; home video/film/television and radio; music; performing arts (carnivals, dance, drama, festivals, stand-up comedy, theatre); publishing (book fairs, e-resources, literature, etc.); tourism and hospitality (cuisine, museums and monuments, night clubs, events managements, etc.); visual art and animation (graphic design, drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, etc.)
2.0 Definition of Productivity
Productivity can be seen from the following angles:
As a Technical Concept
As a Management Concept
As an Economic Concept
As a Social Concept
As an Integrated Concept
Productivity as a Technical Concept
As a technical concept, Productivity is the ratio of Outputs produced (which contribute to the accomplishment of the mission), per unit of resources consumed (Input), compared to a similar ratio from a base period, with the same or increased quality.
OUTPUT
PRODUCTIVITY = —————-
INPUT
Productivity can be Partial which is the ratio of Output to a single input or Total which is the ratio of Output to all the inputs used in the production process.
Productivity as a Management Concept
Productivity as an Economic Concept
The Economic concept views productivity from the point of value creation and addition for the market and consumption in terms of quality.
Productivity as a Social Concept
Productivity is an attitude of mind, the mentality of progress. It seeks to continuously improve what already exists. It is based on the conviction that one can do things better today than yesterday and better tomorrow than today, for a better quality of life.
Integrated Concept
Productivity refers to the efficient and effective conversion of resources (inputs) into products and services (outputs) with optimum utilization of human capital and physical resources for the benefit of society, the economy and the environment. … Elkington, (1999)
In other words, to be sustainable in the longer-term, organizations, sectors and nations need to improve all of social, environmental and economic productivities so that their operations are:
socially equitable,
environmentally bearable and
economically viable
Productivity Concepts
Some important Productivity Concepts that are necessary for improving the performance of organizations on a sustainable basis are:
Efficiency,
Effectiveness,
Quality,
Competitiveness,
Innovation and
Motivation.
Efficiency
Efficiency is the judicious utilization of available materials to produce desired result. Efficiency means “doing the right thing”. Efficiency is a measurable concept, quantitatively determined by the ratio of useful output to total input.
Effectiveness
Effectiveness is the degree to which objectives are achieved to the satisfaction of the end user. Effectiveness means “doing things right.”
Quality
Quality is conformance to requirements, i.e. meeting customers’ (Internal or External) requirements. Quality is measured by the cost of non-conformance (prevention, appraisal and failures). It is cheaper to do things right the first time. It is shared by every function and department.
Competitiveness
“A set of institutions and policies that combine to determine the level of productivity of a nation”… (WEF, 2012). The ability of a nation or its enterprises to gain global market share for inputs, products and services.
The WEF Global Competitiveness Index Framework:
12 Pillars of Competitiveness
Institutions
Innovation
Business Sophistication
Market Size
Technological Readiness
Infrastructure
Financial Market Development
Macroeconomic Environment
Health and Primary Education
Higher Education and Training
Goods Market Efficiency
Labour Market Efficiency
Technology
Innovation
The application of creativity to solve a challenge. Driven by the need to increase productivity and gain long term competitiveness – Private Sector. Provision of new and multiple products and services in an efficient, effective and cheap manner, to meet the varying needs of the citizens – Public Sector
3.0 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY TO PRODUCTIVITY, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AND EMPLOYMENT GENERATION
Leaders and governments across the world have come to reckon with the fact that the creative industry is indeed a major sector for wealth creation, job generation and productive harnessing of talents and potentials of their citizens, especially the young people. The Nigerian government is no different.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (2016a), Nigeria’s GDP in 2015 amounted to N94.14 trillion (US$308.6 billion). A further analysis of the data from the report indicates that sectors that could be regarded as constituting the creative industry jointly contributed about N5 trillion (US$16.4 billion) – or 5.3% – to the GDP. These sectors include textile, apparel & footwear; wood & wood products; publishing; motion pictures; sound recording & music; broadcasting and arts, entertainment & recreation. A further interrogation of the data shows that the three largest contributors to the creative industry are textile, apparel & footwear (37.6%), broadcasting (29.6%) and motion pictures, sound recording & music (22.8%).
Furthermore, it is revealing that while 100% of the value within broadcasting is captured within the formal sector, only 2.1% of the value within motion pictures, sound recording & music and 10.9% within arts, entertainment & recreation is captured in the formal sector. This indicates that broadcasting, because of its formalized structure and organization, is more amenable in Nigeria to reliable statistics than the largely semi-formal sectors like motion picture, sound recording & music, and arts, entertainment & recreation.
For instance, a 2016 survey by the Prince Waterhouse and Coopers (PWC) revealed that as at 2016, Nollywood (the Nigerian film industry) was raking in a profit of $500 million per annum. The music industry, which has gained traction all over Africa and overseas, was worth $40 million in 2011 and $47 million in 2015. The body’s projection for 2020 is that this figure will reach $86 million. Also, fashion and design earnings are put at slightly over N2 trillion of Nigeria’s rebased GDP (National Bureau of Statistics, 2015). The survey indicates that this informs the reason why her products like designer fashion have gained international recognition in recent years, with Nigerian brands seen on runways in Milan and Paris. Nigerian movies and films feature at international film festivals in New York and Nigerian music can be heard on the airwaves all over Europe (PWC, 2016).
Again, Nigeria’s Former Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar corroborated this view when she noted that “by 2016, the film industry sector contributed 2.3% (N239 billion) of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Nigeria’s music industry by 2016 contributed 39 million dollars, and is set to grow by 13.4 per cent by 2021, with an estimated worth of about 73 million dollars. In addition, the gaming industry in Nigeria, according to a PwC study on gaming, is growing. It is benefitting from a broadening customer base, mostly the large and youthful population. UNICON values Nigeria’s video game industry at $150 million USD and estimates mobile gaming to surpass $147 million USD by 2020″.
To be sure, the movie industry in Nigeria has been identified as the second largest employer of labour after agriculture as it generates annual revenues of between US$500 million and US$800 million and offers legitimate direct employment to over one million people, aside other indirect economic opportunities. Significantly, through the largest online distributor of Nollywood films, iROKOtv, Nigerian films reach a global audience of six million people in 178 countries. The estimated total audience of Nollywood runs into hundreds of millions, hence making Nollywood a ‘transnational and global phenomenon’. It is the second largest movie hub after Bollywood. As it is for the movie industry that is how it goes for other components of the creative industry.
Another sector that has bathed Nigeria with global limelight is creative writing, i.e., the works produced by novelists, poets, dramatists, children story writers, ghostwriters and scriptwriters – a group that has a great, but sometimes under-nourished, affinity with the film industry. Creative writing is one of the vibrant sectors of Nigeria’s creative economy although statistics are not readily available to quantify its monetary value. Again, there are many Nigerian creative writers, within and outside the country, but the exact number is not known. It suffices to state that the country has produced many first-rate writers, including a Nobel Laureate. Since its earliest manifestations in the form of books written in Ajami by some Islamic scholars in the 17th century, creative writing, as a form of literary expression, continues to hold a strong attraction for Nigerian writers and readers (Yahaya, 1998 cited in Fasan, 2010).
The publication in 1952 of Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-wine Drunkard raised the curtain on Nigerian creative writing in English to the international community (Awoyemi-Arayela, 2013; Fasan, 2010). The publication of Chinua Achebe’s iconic work, Things Fall Apart, six years later firmly secured the country’s place on the global literary circuit. The book is reputed to have sold over eight million copies and been translated into 50 languages (Urschel, 2008). The works of another Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, have been translated into 30 languages (Ibeku, 2015). As Nwankwo (2017) has argued, Nigerian creative writing was already a global phenomenon before the emergence of “globalization” as an important concept. Doubtless, Nigerian creative writing possesses an enormous potential to create value for the country’s creative economy. Not long ago, Netflix acquired the distribution rights of Beasts of No Nation (based on Uzodinma Iweala’s eponymous novel) for $12 million (Robehmed, 2015). One major challenge Nigeria must confront, however, is how to capture the value created by its creative writers in the diaspora.
Another sector where great reach is made to the global population is the Music industry. Nigeria has produced, and continues to produce, many world-class musicians, who have brought it renown. According to EY (2015), the Nigerian music industry produces over 550 albums annually. The sector was expected to yield US$1 billion in sales in 2016 (EY, 2015). Revenues from live performances of Nigerian musicians around the globe exceed US$100 million (EY, 2015). In a five-year forecast of the Nigerian music industry, PwC (2015) projects that the industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.3% over the period. Interestingly, digital music sales, which overtook physical record sales in 2013, is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 21.4% over the same period (PwC, 2015). This clearly signals the potential of the digital music segment to contribute to the growth of the sector. The PwC study shows that aside the usual record or CD sales, music downloads, phone caller tunes, live performances and brand endorsements are all new money-making avenues for musicians (PwC, 2015).
An unnamed popular Nigerian artist is reported to have earned US$350,000 from caller tune purchases in 2011 (PwC, 2015). At the global level, the late Afrobeat creator, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, is perhaps the most iconic musician to have come out of Nigeria. His musical exploits continue to resonate with the world almost two decades after his death. His talent inspired the multiple award-winning Fela! musical film written by Bill T. Jones and James Lewis (Oikelome, 2010). The film, based on the music and lyrics of Fela, became a huge Broadway success which has also toured several parts of the world. Unfortunately, such a hugely successful film inspired by Nigerian music had neither Nigerian investment nor cast member (Idiahi, 2010).
Just like actors and creative writers, Nigerian musicians are exploring international opportunities. Adedeji (2016) reports some of the collaborations or recognitions received by Nigerian musicians. D’Banj was signed up by Kanye West music label. Wizkid was signed up by Akon’s Convict Records. On the other hand, 2Face Idibia and P-Square were included on the Convict/Citrum African tour. Four Nigerians – Helen Folashade Adu, Henry Adeola Samuel, Sikiru Adepoju and Kelvin Olusola – have won the Grammy Award, while many others were nominated but lost to other nominees (Ibrahim, 2015). Everything considered, it is believed that the Nigerian music industry, if properly harnessed and supported with relevant policies, has the potential to earn huge revenues for the country (Adedeji, 2016).
4.0 GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS FOR THE INDUSTRY
Government at all levels in Nigeria have since identified with the reality that the creative industry is very vital to national growth and development. Speaking in 2019, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, asserted that “our greatest strength lies in our creative industry, our music, and our films. That is one area we need to build on because that is one area we have comparative advantage over many other countries”. Mohammed added that ‘‘we are trying to encourage our artists, give them more incentives to develop the industry because tourism is about entertainment. We are trying to create a specific brand for the entertainment industry”. This self-awareness of the government has informed some of the interventions that have been set up or established to support the creative industry.
Some of the interventions made available to the sector have included the $1 million venture capital fund that was meant to provide seed money for young and talented Nigerians to set up businesses in the creative sector; tax rebate and incentives to operators as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s influence on financial institutions to assist in promoting the culture of the country. Also, the narrative of the industry is gradually taking a turn for the better with a lot of private players in the SMEs including the big ones, coming to identify with the industry in terms of collaborations, sponsorship, expansion and establishments. With more private investors coming to play in the nation’s creative industry like never before, this presents a clear pass for the industry to meet its $1 billion expectations regarding the country’s GDP by 2020 (Thisday, 2019).
5.0 CHALLENGES FACED BY THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY
In spite of the foregoing, the creative industry in Nigeria still faces enormous challenges. Some of these challenges cut across copyright theft, piracy, plagiarism, lack of access to low interest loans, and general infrastructure deficits. These challenges no doubt have had grave impact on the industry as they stifle creativity, dampen productivity and kill morale – to this end, they are a thief of a part of Nigeria’s national growth and development.
Perhaps, the most significant point of similarity amongst players in the creative industry is their inherent production of outputs in the form of intellectual property that requires protection. They all generate copyright, concept given prominence within the creative industry paradigm but whose value as an incentive for creativity remains a moot point (Towse, 2010). Again, the inadequacies of the creative industry definitions discussed earlier notwithstanding, intellectual property remains a prized output of the sectors under review. Its protection, however, is one of the greatest challenges facing Nigeria’s film, creative writing and music industries (Jedlowski, 2013; Oyewunmi, 2011; Ryan, 2015; Tade & Mmahi, 2018). Without exaggerating, one could state that piracy is a critical factor that hinders the full exploitation of these sectors by Nigeria at local and global levels. The World Bank estimates that nine out of every 10 Nollywood films sold are pirated (Oh, 2014). This implies that the current recorded earnings of Nollywood may represent less than 20% of its potential.
Ironically, it has been pointed out that piracy helped Nollywood attain its global renown (see Jedlowski 2010; Kabanda 2014; Pratt 2015). Larkin (2005), in his work on the Nigerian film industry, has hinted at the ambivalent nature of piracy: creative workers bemoan the deleterious effects of piracy on their livelihoods, even as they themselves patronize pirate media. Paradoxically, Nigerian musicians sometimes encourage the piracy of their own works in a bid to achieve popularity (Adedeji, 2016) while legitimate marketers, out of greed, often pirate the works given to them to market (Tade & Mmahi, 2018). Indeed, evidence suggests that piracy has been “beneficial” to the cause of Nigeria’s film and music industries; for creative writing, however, piracy appears to have had no redeeming feature. It has produced no empirically verifiable benefit to writers. Clearly, the discourse on piracy, when subjected to a rigorous interrogation, may yield a much more complicated picture than scholars usually paint. But the fact that piracy may have had some “positive” effects on the film and music industries still does not decriminalize the practice .
The government needs to play a significant role in adequately funding the National Copyrights Commission (NCC) and making its operations a priority for the police. Owing to the “semi-formal” nature of the creative industries – an issue to which I will return – a strong enforcement mechanism (Tade & Mmahi, 2018), supported with massive public enlightenment may produce results as evidence from the pharmaceutical industry suggests. Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector was reeling under the menace of counterfeit drugs until a regime of strong enforcement and public awareness campaigns was instituted (see Ubajaka, Obi-Okaro, Emelumadu, Azumarah, Ukegbu & Ilikannu, 2016). With a strong leadership provided by the food and drug administration agency, the sector has had some reprieve from counterfeiters (Woosley & Schwartz, 2017). The lessons from the pharmaceutical sector may benefit the creative industries.
The judicial system is one area the government can bring about some change to support the enforcement of anti-piracy laws. Aside the general overhaul of the judicial system for the efficient administration of justice, the government may consider the establishment of specialized courts or specialized units within existing courts to deal expeditiously with Intellectual Property (IP) right infringements.
As noted earlier, there has been no comprehensive mapping of Nigeria’s creative industry comparable to that of the UK DCMS or that of the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation (ARC CCI). This makes it difficult to identify and quantify the economic value of the various sectors of the creative economy to develop appropriate policy responses. With proper mapping, an organization like Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) will be able to collect, categorize, analyze and aggregate industry data in a meaningful manner that affords sectoral data comparability
Beyond official pronouncements, however, the true test of commitment resides in the articulation of a coherent policy and strategy that establish clear objectives for the industries, support structures in the areas of skills and capacity development, access to finance, infrastructure, IP protection, incentives, development of creative clusters and international strategy, among others. There are examples of such policy work that has been done elsewhere. The Creative Industries Council (CIC), a policy think-tank composed of industry and government officials, in 2014 developed the Create UK Creative Industries Policy which articulated policy measures (complete with success metrics) to consolidate the leadership position of the UK by 2020 (CIC, 2014).
Finally, it needs to be pointed out that the three sectors – film, music and writing – can work collaboratively to enhance their individual standing both at the global and local levels. There is so much in Nigerian creative writing that can be converted to blockbuster films with a potential to shake the world. Nigerian musicians can create new soundtracks or license their existing music to go with such films.
5.0 Conclusion
In light of the above some of the things that can be done to spur greater productivity in the creative industry are:
More of private sector involvement in encouraging creativity among the young people via schemes that challenges creative thinking, excellence in inventions, innovations, problem-solving, and creative production. The banks, oil companies, manufacturing firms, extractive industries and other players in the private sector should take it as part of their corporate social responsibility to spur such action.
Commercial banks, other financial institutions, and the Central Bank of Nigeria should come up with well-implementable programme that will elicit and harness and handsomely reward talents, potentials and special skills of young people. Special clubs, societies and groups should be formed in schools, especially primary and secondary, to cash them young.
Relevant government agencies should be bold enough to enforce anti-theft or anti-piracy laws and arrest and prosecute those found culpable. Leniency should no longer be the case.
Government or successful Nigerians could set up academies to admit bright and promising young people with the aim of developing their creative potentials honing their skills and bringing them to the limelight.
Government should work on having better infrastructure in the country, especially electricity stability, accessible roads in rural areas and urban satellite towns, etc.
It is hoped that the implementation of the above, among several other measures will stimulate the productivity of the creative industry for a substantial contribution to the national economy.
