Why we invested $220m in Nigeria in 9yrs – StarTimes

The StarTimes a Chinese firm which offers a directto-home pay-TV service said it has invested over $220 million in Nigeria in the last nine years to boost entertainment and enrich the country’s television viewers’ experiences.

The Vice President of StarTimes, Ms Guo Zi Qi, said this in Abuja at the formal launch of the Chinese Animation season.

According to her the organisation which is partnering with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), has over 170 channels and 150 actors in its kitty. Also the Director General of the NTA, Mr. Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, represented by the Director of Programmes Mallam Rabiu Adamu lamented that despite that almost every child is fascinated by video animation and cartoons, there is not a single dedicated cartoon channel that is African in origin and content on any of the television network currently operating in Nigeria.

He said this may be due to the country’s local content producers and animators not having access to the huge funding and technical knowhow required to produce such animated content.

“This trend is not healthy for us as a nation, because our children today are the leaders of tomorrow who should be embodiments of our culture and values, we need more local animated content and I hope we can collaborate with foreign partners to achieve this objective,” he said.

On his part, the Chinese Cultural Attaché in Nigeria Mr Li Xuda said the importance of China and Nigeria relationship is mutual in social, economic and cultural spheres and that the

The Executive Director of the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) Mr. Adedayo Thomas stressed that China is Nigeria’s biggest trading partners, and that more cooperation is still needed in the area of film and animation content production.