Over the last three decades, the Nigerian creative sector, specifically tourism, culture and arts, has not been considered a key contributor to the economy. The creative sector contributes generously to the foreign exchange earnings of many countries including South-Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania and the UAE.
Unfortunately in Nigeria, the sector contributes less than 1.5 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the dismal rate of development of the sector has been attributed to the country’s over dependence on oil for its foreign exchange earnings, as well as lack of funding and government support.
The recession witnessed by oil dependent economies has awakened us all to the benefits and need for a diversified economy. Nigeria successfully exited the recession in September with a marginal 0.55 percent growth in the second quarter of 2017, after recording negative growth for five consecutive quarters.
Against this backdrop, the Government is aggressively implementing initiatives in partnership with the private sector aimed at diversifying the economy, to ensure every sector starts contributing significantly to the country’s GDP.
In the private sector, Oando plc, an indigenous oil and gas company, continues to set the pace for counterparts in the area of partnerships aimed at supporting the development of the economy. The Company recently partnered with the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) to promote African art as well as socio-economic diversification through the month long LagosPhoto Festival.
LagosPhoto Festival, which held its grand opening at the company’s head office, Oando Wings Office Complex on November 25, will run till December 15 across various indoor and outdoor locations.
The grand opening included a well-curated selection of over 31 of the most talented African artists, including the New York Times portfolio review finalist, Elo Osunde & Kadara Enyeasi amongst others. The festival aims to engage the general public with multifaceted stories of Africa through exhibitions, workshops, artist presentations, discussions and large-scale outdoor prints displayed throughout Lagos.
Calling on for more support for creative arts, Alero Balougn, head, corporate communications, Oando, said: For Nigeria to achieve its economic diversification objective, the principle of subsidiary must apply. The private sector must acknowledge that the Government cannot do it all and we owe it to the country we operate in to create a positive and lasting contribution.
“Therefore I encourage the private sector to expend more efforts in supporting more initiatives like the LagosPhoto Festival as well as other neglected sectors of the economy to achieve a Nigeria we can all be proud of. As a company we believe Africa has a lot of untapped talent, we are inspired by the sector’s ability to thrive with minimal external support.
“The zeal and passion that can be found in the sector is in line with Oando’s core values and we are honored by the opportunity to support the industry through the LagosPhoto platform. We are committed to identifying with and supporting Government’s pursuit of the national objective.”
