Use movie industry to rebrand Africa’s image — AFA Chief

Governments in Africa have been advised to use the movie industry to change the socio-cultural and political narratives of the continent and positively rebrand its image.

The founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the African Films Awards (AFA) UK, Prince Mike Abiola, made the call in a speech at the 21st edition of the Awards in London at the weekend.

Kanywood stars Nafisa Abdullah and Ramadan Booth were amongst honoured during the event.

Abiola, who is the publisher of UK-based African Voice said “Films are important tools to document, influence, and entertain”, he said, adding that film awards were also essential for the growth of the industry and for helping investors in determining where to put their money.

He said “Today, Nollywood is the second largest film industry in the world, and according to available statistics, it is worth $3.3b”, stressing recipients that the industry had been getting bigger each year.

He said it was encouraging that successive governments in Nigeria were beginning to appreciate the contributions of Nollywood to the economy, but stressed the need for conscious efforts by the government to support the expansion of Nollywood into Europe and America.

He lauded the contributions of the award recipients which started in the UK in 1996 in promoting Africa’s culture and British diversity.