Elevated experiences celebrating the culture through dance and rhythm
Elevated experiences celebrating the culture through dance and rhythm
Nigeria’s creative talent has conquered the world—but why do the systems behind that talent keep struggling to keep pace? A groundbreaking new report just dropped that finally puts data behind what many have suspected all along. NECLive and Frontyard Group have unveiled The State of Nigeria’s Creative Economy 2026, a no-holds-barred examination that replaces vague industry talk with hard evidence about what’s actually happening on the ground in Nigeria’s creative sector.
The findings hit hard and hit home. Based on responses from 377 creative professionals spanning eight different sectors—all surveyed right after NECLive 2025—the report’s main conclusion flips the script entirely: Nigeria doesn’t have a talent problem. Never did. What’s choking the creative economy’s growth isn’t a lack of gifted artists, producers, or creatives. It’s everything else: the broken infrastructure, clunky administrative processes, unreliable payment systems, inadequate funding channels, and insufficient professional training. The creatives showed up and showed out. The machinery supporting them? Not so much.
The 377 participants didn’t hold back, laying bare the real obstacles preventing them from scaling their work. These aren’t theoretical issues—they’re the daily friction points that slow down deals, complicate collaborations, and limit potential. As Tomiwo Ojo, Head of Content at ID Africa, sharply observed: “We have never lacked influence. What we have lacked is evidence about the machinery beneath that influence and the honest conversation that evidence makes possible. A sector that can name its own constraints is a sector ready to be built. The talent has already done its part. It is time for the systems to catch up.” The report doesn’t just diagnose problems—it delivers concrete, actionable recommendations aimed at government bodies, investors, and private sector players. Anyone can access the full report for free at nec.ng, making it a tool designed for real-world impact, not just industry chatter.
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