A keynote by Dr. Nkiru Balonwu at the QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit in Lagos on August 12, 2025.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you to Olumide Iyanda and the Mighty Media Plus team for the kind invitation and for bringing us together for this timely and necessary conversation.
My speech today is more a patchwork of ideas than a single thread, and it’s been stitched together from experience, conversations, observations, and reflections on what it really takes to make a creative economy thrive. Financing is certainly part of the story, but the real growth occurs when we connect the dots: when capital is connected to talent, when innovation meets the infrastructure it needs, and when policy enables effective partnerships. This is a vast and evolving subject, and while I’ll inevitably leave out many important points, both because of time and because no single speech could capture them all, I hope what we cover today inspires new thinking and new connections.
I want to begin with a personal “what-if.”
Years ago, I led a company called Spinlet, the first music streaming and digital distribution platform in Sub-Saharan Africa. During my time as CEO, we achieved significant milestones, including becoming Nigeria’s first International Standard Recording Code Manager and growing to over two million users at our peak. We had a lot going for us: the vision, talent, and early-mover advantage. But we lacked the critical elements that transform brilliant ideas into resilient institutions: adequately structured financing and robust infrastructure.
Now imagine if Spinlet were still here today, exporting African music and building generational IP wealth for our artists. That missed opportunity shows that talent is never the issue; what’s often missing is structured belief: policy support, patient capital, and solid technical infrastructure.
This experience shapes the core of my message today. When we talk about ‘financing as a catalyst,’ we must look beyond surface-level investments and commit to building an entire system – a system with enabling conditions that allow our creatives to not just survive but thrive and scale.
Expression and enterprise
The creative economy is both expression and enterprise. It already contributes significantly to Nigeria’s GDP and soft power, yet it still lacks scalable, predictable investment frameworks.
Nigerian music dominates global charts; our films stream on international platforms, our designers feature on global runways and our creators shape global digital culture. But at home, we still treat these industries as hobbies. There are few institutional investors in the space and the financing that does exist is fragmented: sponsorships, one-off grants, or brand-driven support.
We celebrate global success, but we have not yet built the local systems to replicate that success at scale. When Burna or Rema sell out an iconic global venue, it is a cultural victory, a clear, unambiguous market signal, and proof of concept. It tells any smart investor that there is a high-quality product, a dedicated global audience willing to pay premium prices, and a scalable business model.
We are falling short in connecting the dots by not translating that undeniable success into a compelling investment case for Nigeria’s broader creative ecosystem. The challenge is not the absence of capital, but the lack of scalable, structured investment frameworks the industry needs to thrive. Afreximbank’s billion-dollar Africa Film Fund, announced in May under its CANEX program, is a significant and welcome step. But to reach its full potential, it must be matched with robust implementation and industry-wide alignment.
At the national level, interventions like the Bank of Industry’s creative sector funds are equally important. Here too, the capital exists in theory, the real gaps lie in design, accessibility, and alignment with the practical needs of entrepreneurs.
But we have to be honest about the mismatch: these funds often serve large-scale projects, while most creatives in Nigeria are operating at micro or early-growth levels. How many creatives are positioned to absorb a multi-million-dollar ticket? The reality is that our ecosystem also needs accessible, smaller-scale funding that turns an idea into a viable business.
Part of what we need is tiered, targeted financing that spans early-stage grants, seed capital, mezzanine funding, and patient equity, all tailored to the creative lifecycle. We need financing designed for the messy middle, not just the glamorous headline project or the polished final product. If we want to see scale in Nigeria, we need long-term financing, not just for content, but for the boring, unsexy infrastructure: IP banks, data centres, legal support, domestic distribution networks, rights management platforms, efficient payment systems, insurance products for creatives, affordable production facilities, and talent development pipelines.
And this brings me to a necessary mindset shift. It is time for our creatives to see themselves not just as artists, but as businesspeople, as institution builders, and as financially literate architects of enterprise.
The question is no longer just, “How do we build the next great platform?” The more urgent question is: “What are the structures that make a platform sustainable in Nigeria?”
Ecosystems over silos
This, of course, leads directly to my next point: the critical importance of building ecosystems over silos. Our creative industry cannot and will not achieve its full potential through isolated success stories. A few global superstars are a source of national pride, but a thriving, interconnected ecosystem is a source of national wealth.
And before I go further, I want to acknowledge a fundamental truth of doing business in our environment. Building a business here is uniquely challenging. You often set out to build one thing, but quickly realise that the pillars necessary to support your venture don’t fully exist. This “pioneer’s disadvantage” forces many entrepreneurs to split resources between their core product and constructing the very market conditions that should already be in place. It is why many fail. It was the story of Spinlet, and it is the story of many others.
So when I talk about ‘ecosystems over silos,’ I am calling for a conscious, collaborative effort to build those missing pillars together. It means actively linking creatives to capital, policy to platforms, and education to opportunity. It means policymakers taking the time to understand new digital distribution models. It means bankers learning how to properly conduct IP valuation. It means investors looking beyond the glamour of entertainment and recognising the solid fundamentals of a well-run creative enterprise.
One of the most powerful ways to turn creativity into economic power is by bringing the right people together: creatives, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders. That’s why I built Africa Soft Power, a platform for Africa’s creative and knowledge economies focused on connecting both established and emerging voices from across the continent and the diaspora. But it’s not just about talking; it’s about forging partnerships, unlocking investment, and setting strategies that turn great ideas into scalable businesses. In today’s world, ideas are currency, and ASP is working to ensure Africa’s creative capital delivers long-term economic returns and strengthens the continent’s place in the global economy.
‘Ecosystem over silos’ also means expanding our very definition of the creative industries. For too long, the spotlight has been focused almost exclusively on music and film. But what about Nigeria’s fashion industry? How about the hair and beauty industry, a multi-million-dollar sector that employs hundreds of thousands and serves a predominantly female consumer base that drives much of the country’s household spending? Recognising this not only underscores its economic value but also highlights why robust data is essential. We need to treat the full spectrum of our cultural production as economically valuable, and we need to design financing, information and support systems for them accordingly.
To support them, we must move from personality-driven narratives to systems thinking. This means tackling the deep, structural gaps in our market head-on. We must ask: who is training the next generation of creatives to read a term sheet, to understand equity dilution, or to negotiate an IP licensing deal? Are we leaving them to learn these expensive lessons through trial and error? We need accessible, practical programs, not just one-off workshops, but sustained mentorship that bridges the gap between creative talent and financial acumen.
Simultaneously, who is guiding our investors? How do we help a fund manager who is used to predictable, asset-backed businesses to properly assess the value of a creative enterprise? The risk profile of a creative project is entirely different from that of a real estate development. We need to cultivate a class of investors who understand the economics of creative production, who can value intangible assets like brand loyalty and audience engagement, and who see the long-term potential in building a cultural legacy.
This is where data becomes the foundation for everything. An investor’s confidence grows when a pitch is backed by more than just passion. We need clear, reliable data that provides visibility into what’s actually working. What are the audience demographics for a new web series? What’s the nature of Nigeria’s diaspora market—a market that is beyond some of the content access problems we face at home? We need an open dashboard that tracks box-office, streaming payouts, fashion export receipts, wedding-event spend and more.
Take “Detty December” as an example. According to Lagos State Government data, this single festive season generated billions in revenue, attracted thousands of international visitors, and triggered a surge in hospitality, retail, and event-related jobs. In many parts of the world, entire economies are built on such cultural activities from the Rio Carnival to the Edinburgh Festival with consistent, reliable data used to drive policy, investment, and infrastructure development. Without similar year-round measurement in Nigeria, we risk underestimating and underleveraging one of our most dynamic sources of economic power.
Government, private sector & the creative economy itself:
Building this ecosystem is a shared responsibility. It requires a powerful partnership between the government, the private sector, and the creative sector itself.
First, the government. We must be clear-eyed about the role of the state in driving and supporting innovation. Silicon Valley did not just spring out of the California desert by magic. It was shaped by decades of pro-tech state policies, massive federal research funding, and a legal framework that protected innovation. South Korea’s current cultural dominance was not an accident; it was seeded by its government’s deliberate, long-term investment strategy in K-pop and film.
We also need policies that de-risk creative investment: tax credits for content production, export guarantees, IP protections that are easy to enforce, and seed funding for creative hubs across the country, not just in Lagos, but also in centres like Aba and Kano. With targeted investment in infrastructure, finance and formalised networks, they could anchor a more diverse, export-ready creative sector. The government must also support standards. We can’t be competing globally with fragmented regulations and no shared data on creative output.
Second, private capital must get smarter about the creative industry and see it for what it is: a core driver of Nigeria’s burgeoning service economy. “Getting smarter” means moving beyond financing one-off movie projects and instead building diversified portfolios of creative assets. It means creating specialised venture funds with the expertise to value intellectual property and audience engagement. It means seeing our creative entrepreneurs not as grantees, but as partners in building high-growth businesses.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the creative sector must look inward. One of the greatest missed opportunities in Nigeria is the disconnect between our two strongest cultural exports: music and film.
Afrobeats has gone global. Nollywood has massive local and diaspora appeal. But these industries often operate in parallel, rather than as partners. In the U.S., Hollywood and the music industry are tightly linked; think soundtracks, cross-platform releases, touring strategies, and merchandising. In South Korea, K-pop and K-dramas are synchronised to build national brand equity.
In recent years, a number of Nigerian artists have been featured on major Hollywood soundtracks. Yet how often do we see that same calibre of music integrated into Nollywood blockbusters? Whether the gap stems from creative vision, budget constraints, or a lack of deliberate collaboration, one way forward is joint financing between leading players in both sectors, sharing the risk and the reward. Co-investment would pool resources, expand distribution networks, and multiply returns, while ensuring more value remains within Nigeria’s creative economy.
Historically, films have been powerful platforms for launching and amplifying music careers. A deliberate, symbiotic relationship between the two industries could unlock exponential growth for both. Beyond music, there’s scope to integrate costume designers, stylists, and other creatives, forging valuable cross-sector connections with Nigeria’s burgeoning fashion industry. The combined storytelling power of these sectors positions Nigeria as a cultural superpower with greater global visibility, higher export revenue, stronger bargaining power, talent retention, and cultural ownership.
And, while we are on the topic of looking inwards, one of the most important lessons from my time at Spinlet was recognising that ambition in Nigeria is often deeply local. For the majority, the aspiration isn’t to emigrate, it’s to earn, spend, and build wealth here. This is as much a major economic opportunity as it is a social observation. If we get the fundamentals right, the Nigerian market alone would be large enough for millions to sustain livelihoods, grow businesses, and create jobs.
Opportunities in AI
It’s impossible to discuss the creative economy without acknowledging the disruptive force of artificial intelligence and the speed of its evolution. DeepSeek’s open-weight model, reportedly trained for around $6 million, illustrates how quickly frontier capability is becoming more affordable and how barriers to entry are being reshaped. The contrast is even more striking when set against the backdrop of Sam Altman’s 2023 remark that it was essentially “hopeless” for newcomers to compete with frontier labs.
Understandably, for creatives everywhere, AI is both a challenge and an opportunity, and Nigeria is no exception. While the concerns about originality, ethics, and livelihoods are valid, AI could be the very tool that allows us to leapfrog: to accelerate production timelines, reduce costs, scale distribution, and monetise our cultural assets globally. If financing is designed with this in mind, not just funding content but also the tools, training, and infrastructure to integrate AI, Nigeria’s creative industries could position themselves not just to participate in the AI era, but to lead it.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers. But I do know that ignoring this shift would be a mistake. If we want to future-proof the sector, AI has to be part of the ecosystem conversation from the start.
Conclusion
This has been a long speech, but my call to action for everyone in this room today is simple. Collaborate: the next frontier of growth is not in competing for the same small slice of pie, but in working together to make the entire pie bigger. Thank you for listening.
