Head of SME Banking at FirstBank of Nigeria, Dr Abiodun Famuyiwa, says the bank is ready to invest in the country’s creative industry.
Famuyiwa spoke last Tuesday during the second panel session at the inaugural QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit held at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
Themed “Financing as Catalyst for a Thriving Creative Economy,” the summit brought together filmmakers, musicians, fashion designers, journalists, bankers, government officials and business leaders to discuss how Nigeria’s creative sector can thrive and not just survive.
The session, moderated by former Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture Steve Ayorinde, had as panelists Famuyiwa; Executive Director of the National Film and Video Censors Board, Dr Shaibu Husseini; Head of Legal and Business Development at The Temple Company, Yemisi Falaye; and Providus Bank’s Group Head of Large Corporates and Structured Finance, Dr Biodun Ariyo.
Famuyiwa admitted that banks have a poor understanding of the creative industry.
“Basically what I want to start with is that there is a major lakuna somewhere and that is why I’m excited to be here. I am the pioneer head of SME banking at FirstBank and we started delving into this some few years back when we saw that yes as a bank we touch a lot of sectors but we have generic product serving different sectors, so we started looking into different sectors and interestingly over a year ago we went into this creative industry. I must admit personally I never knew how big this industry was. And somebody mentioned it here that the figures throwing out there is underestimated and I totally agree,” he said.
“When you look into the creative industry, we are looking at entertainment, media, beauty and lifestyle, hospitality, all these, by the time you break them down further, when you take a deeper dive, you discover that you have so much to chew in each of this area, not to talk about the value chain.”
He added: “We went into a decision at the senior level to try to look into the creative industry. We have not really arrived there I must say… we are yet to scratch the surface and for me why I’m excited to be here, I think the direction to go — and thank Mr Iyanda for bringing this together. There’s a lot the bank can actually do.”
On the bank’s shift from sponsorship to investment, Famuyiwa said: “What we have been doing is more or less like sponsorship, we need more than that for this industry, that’s not the real needs. That’s why I’m saying that attending this my eyes are beginning to open to other areas. Under my department in the bank, I deliberately decided to start a new unit which is strategic partnership to begin to look into this various sectors. For me, I’m going to have a meeting with Mr Iyanda soon to say ‘look how is this creative industry structured?’ I’m telling you, most banks don’t know. I’m being very honest with you.”
“As a bank, one of the things you need to realize is that you need to understand the business dynamics of any business you want to go into,” he added.
Famuyiwa also spoke on his findings in the sports sector.
“For instance recently I got involved in the area of sports and I realized that the sport industry is far from what people understand it to be. I am making a report on it. I’ve done some interesting studies going to Morocco going to some other areas, some climes and you discover that even some other nations who are not sporty nation like UAE are making a lot of money from sport and this is part of the creative industry. By the time you look at the creative industry, there’s so much we need to do. So there’s need for us to sit down together, have a strategic partnership with them… Once we understand who to talk to, then we begin to do business. I’m sure we will be able to break all the myth.”
Highlighting what could attract the bank, Famuyiwa said: “We got it right with some sector like those that are into market (traders), we were able to disburse about hundred billion to them. Because we focused on them. No collateral, just give you money to do your business because we studied and understood the dynamics of their business.
“Now somebody mentioned about producing a film, what if he produces and it doesn’t sell? To me honestly, when I look at an industry that we are yet to tap, this is it. And if there’s an industry giving Nigerians joy, happiness all over the globe, this is the industry. Take this one out, I don’t know what honestly will happen to this country. So for me as a bank, my intention definitely is to come here to learn, listen more, partner with the right people and take a deeper dive to understand this business. I am willing to lend to this industry. I am making this commitment and I will work with Mr Iyanda to make sure that we can come together. I’m going to partnership to really understand this business very well. For FirstBank we are willing and ready to invest in this business.”
Other speakers at the summit included Kunle Afolayan, Mike Dada, Mary Ephraim-Egbas and Joseph Edgar.
The event was chaired by Udeme Ufot, anchored by actress and voice artiste Eyiyemi Olivia Rogbinyin and supported by FirstBank, NLNG and Shell.
