FG releases N420m 2nd tranche Film Production Fund
The federal government has approved the disbursement of N420 million second tranche of Project Act Nollywood’s Innovative Distribution Fund (IDF).
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, stated this at the weekend in a statement by the Deputy Director of Information, Mrs Patricia Deworitshe, that the disbursement of the balance sum of N420,200,000.00 to 105 IDF beneficiaries in the second and final tranche.
Adeosun said that the objective was to sustain the growth of Nigeria’s movie industry, encourage the industry realize its potential of being a significant creator of employment and considerable contributor to GDP, and to address the some of the key challenges currently facing the Industry.
She said, “The programme aims to improve and promote key components of the value chain through the provision of grants scheme designed to support existing or aspiring practitioners within the Industry, including the Diaspora.”
According to the minister, Project ACT-Nollywood has three primary components aimed at developing and addressing inhibitors to further growth, which exist along the movie making value chain.
“The components include Film Production Fund (FPF), Capacity Building Fund (CBF), and Innovative Distribution Fund (IDF).
“The (FPF) and (CBF) have been fully implemented while the (IDF) which is the third component of the project is on-going.
“The (IDF) covers online, National, Regional and community categories of Nollywood Film distribution and exhibition. The objectives of IDF are to improve the distribution network of Nigerian Audio-Visual contents; cut down on piracy, create jobs (direct and indirect), and better protect Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) within the Nigerian Entertainment Industry.”
The minister said that a total sum of N1.8 billion was approved for disbursement to 106 beneficiaries in this component. N1.335 billion has earlier on the year been disbursed as first tranche to 105 beneficiaries.
“During the Monitoring and Evaluation (M & E) of this first tranche disbursement, the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) recorded a number of achievements in line with the objectives of the programme; 15 community cinemas and viewing centers have been established through the grant and this has improved the distribution network of movies in Nigeria.
“The programme has supported 18 firms in strengthening online distribution platforms. This has helped curbed illegal downloads and piracy; 256 permanent jobs and 544 temporary jobs have been created through the financial support provided to 105 beneficiaries by the programme.
“The programme has equally aided the extension of the Nollywood Industry to sub-Sahara Africa through the funding of National distributors to expand their distribution capacity and network. National distributors are expanding their capacity to lip-synching their content in French for onward distribution to the ECOWAS sub-region,” the ministry of finance stated.
