US Govt To Roll Out Programmes To Boost Nigeria’s Creative Economy

The United States government says it is willing to collaborate with the Ministry of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy to roll out initiatives that will upskill creatives in music and television script writing.

The US assistant secretary of state for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Lee Satterfield made this known when she paid a courtesy visit to the minister of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa in Abuja.

Satterfield said that the US government would use public diplomacy platforms, including people-to-people diplomacy, to revolutionise the growing opportunities in the music, art and literary fields.

“In addition to the robust programmes we already do in the culture space, we have announced three new initiatives. One is for television production, to bring Nigerian TV production directors to the University of Southern California to work directly with American executive producers and directors, to help them create the shows, and to be mentored and use the American network to help bolster that sector.

“Secondly, with the recording academy, we announced a music programme where the Recording Academy will find American mentors who are members of the Recording Academy to bring Africans from the continent. Five of the participants out of 20 will be Nigerians.

“We want to really create this ecosystem in the music space with these recording academy members. Secretary Blinken announced that the programme will take place in October of this year.”

Earlier, the cited intellectual property securitisation on copyright, lack of infrastructure and the need to industrialise the sector as key grey areas yearning for collaborations and investment in order to bring value into the country.

“Infrastructure is key. Part of our road map and strategy is to build the Abuja Creative City, which is going to be a one-stop shop for everything creative. In addition to the creative city, we are willing to work with different governments, organisations and institutions to see how we can bring value both ways and really monetise the sector. So, in a nutshell, we are looking at three key pillars: cultural expansion, economic expansion, and job creation.

“The fourth is our robust initiative called Destination 2030 which we hope to use to reposition Nigeria on the global stage. So, really, the door is open for business, for discussions, for collaborations, areas of alignment, and to continue the conversation on how we can also contribute our quota and our content to America,” she stated.