Creative Arts Ministry eyes $10b contribution to GDP

The Federal Government aims to generate $100 billion for the country’s economy through creative arts. It also assured that Nigeria will become the creative hub not just of Africa, but on the global stage.

Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja during a visit to The Fashion Academy, a private vocational school.

Impressed by the academy’s waste-to-wealth initiatives, the minister pledged that the ministry would collaborate with the academy to promote their creations globally.

“To be able to take this and turn it into something that could be useful to the community, export as a people. Because these scraps are the tapestry of who we are culturally and artistically. It has many benefits not only to the individual women and their immediate families and communities, but I think it will help us on our journey to contribute N100 billion to increase the GDP,” she said.

While calling on young creatives to register for the newly launched Creative Leap Acceleration Programme (CLAP), the minister said the initiative marks a significant milestone in Nigeria’s journey towards harnessing the boundless potential of its creative minds. The program aims to position Nigeria as a global hub for arts, culture, and creatives.

Acknowledging the lack of financial resources as a major challenge faced by Nigerian creatives, Musawa announced that the ministry is in the process of setting up a fund to support participants in the program.

“The Ministry is going to partner to see how we can use our platform to support the initiative and help The Fashion Academy with the amazing job they are doing. I will go back and have an inter-ministerial meeting with relevant ministries to present this idea to them; to see how we can leverage what they have already started. My hope is for us to export some of these great African expressions to the Diaspora,” she said.

On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of The Fashion Academy, Nina Yusuf-Kwande, said its Scrap to Bank (S2B) program is a women’s economic empowerment and poverty alleviation initiative targeted at young Nigerian women with a flair for a career in the fashion industry.

She explained that wastes collected from fashion designing houses by the academy have been converted into household items like table mats, kitchen gloves, aprons, bags, and pillow cushions, among others.

The Scrap to Bank (S2B) program, implemented by The Fashion Academy, the Association of Spouses of Nigerian Ambassadors (ASNA), and the African Women’s Banking Initiative (AWBI) in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (FMACCE) and endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Tourism, aims to transform scrap materials into valuable household items. These include pot holders, table runners, tissue holders, kitchen gloves, pillows, and coasters, among others.