Diaspora (Commonwealth Union) _ The flickering lights of the screening room said more than mere compelling pictures shine light on Africa‘s next great economic frontier. At the 2025 Africa Social Impact Summit, Film Lab Africa and Sterling One Foundation transformed a simple film screening into a powerful statement about Nigeria‘s budding creative revolution. As new Nigerian filmmakers’ films rolled across the screen, they showed a double story: of beauty of form, yes, but foremost, of job creation, national heritage, and global competitiveness still waiting to be harnessed.
“This is not just about entertainment,” declared Harry Kesiena, British Council Nigeria’s Head of Arts and Culture, his words breaking through the post-screening applause. “Every shot these young producers get creates economic value. Every one well told preserves our heritage while opening up export markets.” His words summed up what the assembled policymakers, investors, and development experts had come to understand: that Nollywood’s $7 billion annual output could well be the starting point.
The creative economy session during the summit revealed startling synergies. British Council Nigeria Country Director Donna McGowan presented proof that long-term investment in training schemes for filmmakers generates 300% more economically than one-off grants. “We’re moving away from talent spotting and into developing ecosystems,” she said, citing the Council’s new post-production labs in Lagos and Kano that have already trained 1,200 filmmakers in advanced digital skills.
Sterling One Foundation CEO Olapeju Ibekwe provided the corporate perspective, illustrating how her organization’s $2 million film fund within her organization has demonstrated that impact investment in film both yields dollars and social returns. “Our portfolio companies demonstrate that maternal health films reach rural villages faster than pamphlets, and climate change films drive more policy change than technical reports,” she stated, calling on development budgets to allocate at least 15% to creative initiatives.
The real heroes of the evening were the filmmakers themselves, twenty alumni from Film Lab Africa whose films ranged from animated versions of folk tales to gritty urban dramas about plastic pollution. Director Chikodi Onyemerela covered success metrics: 78% of program alumni are now sustainable production company owners who have hired over 1,500 Nigerians altogether. “When we train a cinematographer, they’ll hire three assistants. When we mentor a producer, they’ll hire twenty crew. This is how creative economies expand,” he asserted.
During the networking session, which featured flowing cocktails, the discussion shifted to implementation. One Nigeria Ministry of Finance representative described tax incentives on importing camera equipment. Bank executives tossed around collateral-free loans against intellectual property assets. And the British Council team went about planning Phase Two, a pan-African distribution platform, to circumvent traditional gatekeepers.
What began as an evening screening turned out to reveal a paradigm shift in how Africa views its creative sector—not as arts funding charity cases, but as investable assets leading the next wave of growth on the continent. The films shown that evening were merely the opening scene in a much larger story of economic transformation, with Nigerian filmmakers poised to be the leading actors.
