Box office
The box office revenue of Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry, surged by 46% year-on-year in Q1 2024, reaching ₦2.25 billion, according to…
The box office revenue of Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry, surged by 46% year-on-year in Q1 2024, reaching ₦2.25 billion, according to Filmone. However, this growth came at the cost of a 52% increase in average ticket prices, rising from ₦2,479 in Q1 2023 to ₦3,765 in Q1 2024. This significant price hike resulted in a 4% decrease in admissions. Despite this decline, Nollywood movies dominated the Nigerian box office, with a 56% market share, up from Q1 2023, while Hollywood held 44%. The decline in admissions and rise in ticket prices raise concerns about the trend’s long-term sustainability.
Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry, is experiencing a boom despite the general decline in purchasing power. The marginal 4% reduction in attendance numbers, despite a full 52% price hike, is a testament to this. The industry has made significant strides in its growth and development despite facing numerous challenges. One of the most prominent obstacles is piracy. When the cinema culture became widely accepted, movie producers and actors began to receive recognition and compensation for doing what they love. Cinema houses like Filmhouse also began to distribute movies, thus increasing the value they offer. In 2020, Nigeria’s movie industry suffered a massive setback due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown. Visits to cinemas have remained significantly low over the past few years. Fortunately for movie makers, streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have offered platforms to reach audiences with lower risk and costs. However, the box office remains an option for producers willing to invest in marketing efforts to draw audiences to cinema halls for their movies. However, there are few structured funding avenues to support producers of films and content from the formal financial sector of the economy. This significantly limits the scale of what can be produced and the level of risk that can be taken. Compared to countries within the West African region, the numbers from Nigerian cinemas seem like a lot. But when the same numbers are placed alongside those of cinemas located in economies similar to Nigeria’s, it becomes clearer that Nigerian cinemas can do better. Cinemas must innovate to break free from their reliance on holiday crowds and attract consistent patronage throughout the year. Implementing e-ticketing and other modern conveniences could open new revenue streams for Nigerian cinemas. The federal government must reconsider all the funding interventions created for the industry, realising that most are not fit for purpose and requiring collateral instead of intellectual property as security for loans. This severely limits who can access funding, how much can be accessed, and for how long. The financial industry needs to engage with the movie industry and understand its financial flows to create funding that supports its global competitiveness. The Nigerian government must look hard at its existing funding interventions and recognise their shortcomings in supporting the industry.