BREAKING BARRIERS IN STYLE

n recent years, Nigeria has learned the benefits of soft power, with local music and film finding success on foreign shores, and international stars shining a spotlight across the entire country from concert venues in Lagos. For a country that has struggled with PR, this exposure could be priceless. Exemplifying some of the success Nigeria has already found in this area is Michael Ugwu, CEO of Freeme Digital Entertainment, a homegrown music company he set up after previously working for Sony Music. “There is a lot left to do to truly create significant value at home, which will then allow us to create value abroad,” he told The Business Year. The company already has hundreds of independent artists, labels, and content creators on its books

Music and culture also form a growing part of Nigeria’s tourism offering, with music and dance festivals across the country drawing much interest. Lagos even has a “concert season” to call its own, according to Idris Olorunnimbe, Managing Director of The Temple Management Company, when, in December, people “come from far and wide to be in Lagos.”

Yet, while attracting more tourists is forefront in the country’s plans, signs emerged over 2019 that the hospitality sector doesn’t share the same enthusiasm. According to a 2019 report by W Hospitality, Nigeria is no longer in the list of top-10

IAfrican countries for new hotel deals signed, with deals dropping 17% over the year. That said, some significant openings did take place, including Hilton’s first Curio Collection hotel in Africa.

The largest group of patrons at Nigeria’s hotels remain domestic tourists, however, whether on trips for business or pleasure. Trevor Ward, the Principal of W Hospitality Group & Hotel Partners Africa, told The Business Year that, “apart from some exceptions, domestic tourists represent the biggest segment of the market, as 90% of guests in hotels in Lagos are Nigerians.”

Switching back to entertainment, the Nigerian film industry, or Nollywood as it is affectionately known in some quarters, is second only to Bollywood in volume of productions, churning out over 2,500 films a year.

And while that may seem like a strong number, chronic underfunding generally results in box office failure, with the general consensus being the industry needs to focus on fewer, high-budget films. Consumption remains high regardless. According to Chijioke Uwaegbute, an industry expert at PwC, Nigeria’s box office revenues rose by 36% in 2018, from USD17.3 million in 2017 to USD23.6 million in 2018. Subsequently, content giants including Netflix, France’s Canal+, and China’s StarTimes have begun to make inroads into the country. ✖

Fatiu Akiolu

MANAGING DIRECTOR & CEO, REGNO MEDIA

Could you walk us through the background of the company since its operations began in Nigeria?

We turned four recently and thus reflected on and reviewed our journey so far. It has been a journey of many experiences. When we started this business, there was no template or prototype for us to piggyback on. We had to build a 360-degree, Pan-African creative agency from scratch. In retrospect, this allowed us to start with a clean slate and with no preconceived notions or prejudices. We knew what solutions we set out to provide in a peculiar industry populated by young talented and creative people. Our goal is to manage and represent the best among this pool, optimize them, and make them compete in the global marketplace.

The steady rise of Nigeria’s event industry has increased competition in the country. What is the company’s competitive advantage?

It is important to note that the events or ‘live’ aspect is just one arm of what we do. We have other divisions in film, music, sports, art, and digital. Our competitive advantage and business strategies are quite aligned and uniform across all divisions. We place the needs of clients at the forefront of all we do. In order to do this, we have had to take great ownership of the value chain. Rather than waiting for the phones to ring, we are being proactive and create packages around our unique talents. We can create content, produce, record, design pitches, and marry the worlds of the creative and the commercial. This gives our clients greater visibility and leverage in an increasingly competitive field.

How does the company contribute to the local industry and set new standards in the Nigerian and African talent industry?

Everything we have done has been built on local talent and showcasing the best and brightest of Africa, whether through our staff or the people we represent. As a youth-centric organization, we are keen on tapping into the biggest demographic in Africa and ensuring we understand their peculiar demands, trends, and norms. Theirs is a language we speak fluently.

How can the entertainment industry in Nigeria contribute to boosting other sectors, such as tourism?

The boost in tourism is already happening before our very eyes. Many artists and actors already have a pan-African and global appeal. We now have a concert season every December where people come from far and wide to be in Lagos. Film crews from all across Africa and the world are coming to Nigeria to shoot on location, to cast, and for post-production. Capacity and skills are improving all the time, and Africa is a match for anyone in the world.

What are your plans and key priorities for the year 2020?

2020 has obviously made for a most unexpected start, and every business’ strategy has had to take a back seat to more globally expedient matters. What the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us, however, is that no industry, nation, or continent operates in a vacuum. We are far more connected than we could have imagined. Interestingly, this was the very foundation of what Temple’s priorities are going forward. We seek to become bridge builders primarily between the vast spectrum of African talents, but also across the globe. For too long, we in Africa have not valued our stories, culture, and heritage, which are all invariably rich in artistry and beauty. As a result, we have been exploited at every turn, and we rarely get the commensurate worth of our abilities. In 2020, we will launch Ogidi Studios by Temple, a state-of-the-art audio and visual production facility that houses live-action and music recording studios, along with post-production, photography, and VFX suites. This puts us firmly in control of the stories we are putting out there. The narrative is changing, and Temple is here for that. ✖