Artificial intelligence (AI) could be the catalyst that propels Nigeria into a global leadership role in monetising its rich cultural assets, according to Dr. Nkiru Balonwu, Founder of the Africa Soft Power Group.
Speaking at the QED NG Creative Powerhouse Summit in Lagos, themed “Financing as a Catalyst for a Thriving Creative Economy,” Balonwu describes AI as “both a challenge and an opportunity” that must be integrated into Nigeria’s creative sector strategies from the outset.
“AI could be the very tool that allows us to leapfrog and monetise our cultural assets to the next level,” she says. “Ignoring this shift will be a mistake.”
Balonwu, who formerly led Spinlet, Africa’s largest music streaming platform at its peak with over two million subscribers, says Nigeria’s creative industries, spanning music, film, fashion, beauty, and other cultural exports, generate significant economic value but face structural bottlenecks, including weak technical infrastructure, underdeveloped data systems, and financing models that exclude most small-scale creatives.
The creative economy contributes an estimated $5.6 billion to Nigeria’s GDP, according to industry data cited at the event, but Balonwu says the sector’s growth is hampered by the absence of “scalable, predictable investment frameworks” that can transform talent into sustainable enterprises.
She says financing in the sector is “fragmented, often focused on sponsorships or brand-driven support,” and that “we celebrate global success, but we have not yet built the local systems to replicate that success at scale.”
IP infrastructure
Balonwu calls for investment not only in content production but in what she describes as the “boring, unsexy infrastructure” needed for long-term competitiveness. She call sfor investment in “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.”
On technology policy, she urges Nigeria to learn from the deliberate state-led innovation strategies of Silicon Valley in the United States and South Korea’s investment in K-pop and film, which combined pro-innovation policies, funding, and legal protections.
“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 in Aba, in Kano, in Onitsha,” she says.
Balonwu says the government, private capital, and creatives must collaborate to build an interconnected ecosystem that links “creatives to capital, policy to platforms, and education to opportunity,” warning that without such alignment, Nigeria risks under-leveraging one of its fastest-growing economic sectors.
Data as investor confidence
Balonwu says one of the most urgent needs is reliable, year-round data to demonstrate the sector’s true scale and economic value.
“An investor’s confidence grows when a pitch is backed by more than just passion,” she says. “We need clear, reliable data that provides visibility into what’s actually working — audience demographics for a new web series, the nature of Nigeria’s diaspora markets, box office receipts, streaming payouts, fashion exports, weddings, events, and more.”
She points to the economic ripple effect of Lagos’ Detty December festive season, which she says generates billions of naira in revenue, attracts thousands of international visitors, and creates jobs in hospitality, retail and events. “Without similar year-round measurements in Nigeria, we risk underestimating and under-leveraging one of our most dynamic sources of economic power,” she says.
Balonwu adds that in global markets, major cultural events like Rio Carnival or the Edinburgh Festival use consistent data to drive policy, investment, and infrastructure planning. “We need to treat the full spectrum of our cultural production as economically valuable,” she says, urging policymakers to expand their view beyond music and film to include industries like fashion, hair, and beauty, which she says are “phenomenal, large industries” in Nigeria.
With Afrobeats and Nollywood enjoying global reach, Balonwu says Nigeria can multiply its export revenues by integrating related industries. “A deliberate symbiotic relationship between [music and film] could unlock exponential growth for both,” she says, referencing South Korea’s strategy of synchronising K-pop and K-dramas.
She adds that artificial intelligence, already reshaping global creative industries through tools like deepfakes and generative models, is an inevitable part of the sector’s future. “Quite a lot of people have millions of dollars in Nigeria,” she says, pointing to the falling cost of advanced AI models. “If we actually have the right fundamentals, we can focus on those [investments].”
“The next frontier of growth is not in competing for the very small slice of pie, but in working together to make the entire pie bigger,” Balonwu tells attendess of the QED summit.
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