Stronger Creatives-Investors Collaboration Key to Nollywood's Stable Financial Future

Adekunle Adebiyi

(By Bankole Orimisan) - Creative economy touted as next multi-billion-naira investment window 

Nigeria’s film industry is drawing renewed investor interest, with stakeholders projecting multi-billion-naira opportunities as Nollywood positions itself as a viable asset class. 

     The momentum was reinforced at the second edition of the Film Financing Conference hosted by MBO Capital Management Limited in Lagos, where financiers, filmmakers and industry executives examined pathways to unlock capital and scale the sector. 

     The investment firm disclosed that it has channelled more than N9 billion into Nigerian film productions since 2017, a figure analysts said signals growing confidence in Nollywood’s commercial prospects despite lingering structural challenges. 

     The Executive Director (Investments), MBO Capital Management, Adekunle Adebiyi, said the industry is entering a phase where disciplined financing, data-driven distribution, and diversified revenue streams will determine its long-term profitability. 

     He noted that while Nollywood has achieved global cultural relevance, translating that influence into consistent financial returns requires stronger collaboration between creatives and institutional investors. 

     Discussions at the conference centred on unlocking value across the film production chain. Stakeholders identify distribution inefficiencies, weak infrastructure, and limited access to long-term funding as key constraints. 

     The Vice President, Investments of MBO Capital Management Limited, Folajimi Alli-Balogun, said Nigeria’s film industry must aggressively expand beyond domestic borders to attract serious investment and deliver sustainable returns, warning that current box office performance does not justify rising production budgets. 

    Speaking with The Guardian on the sidelines of the MCM Film Financing Conference, Alli-Balogun said while Nollywood has grown significantly over the years, its commercial structure remains weak, particularly in distribution and revenue recovery. 

     According to him, the conference was conceived to address long-standing structural gaps that have limited the industry’s ability to compete globally and attract institutional capital. 

     “MBO Capital is a financial advisory and investment firm. We’ve been investing in film for about two years now, since 2017. Last year, we held the first conference to highlight some of the issues holding the industry back from financing to production and how Nollywood has evolved,” he said. 

     Balogun noted that this year’s edition is focused on repositioning the industry for global competitiveness, especially as production budgets continue to rise without a corresponding increase in returns. 

     “Film budgets are getting bigger, but if you look at the box office numbers, they are not the most attractive. That tells you clearly that if we want to succeed, we must go beyond Nigeria,” he said. 

     He cited an upcoming film, Clarissa, shot in Nigeria with a budget of about $4 million, as an example of the direction the industry should take. 

     “All the funding was raised in Africa, largely from Nigeria. But more importantly, it has a global distributor and has been selected for screening at Cannes. That is the kind of model we need, strong distribution, not just big budgets,” he added.