UK–Nigeria Tech Hub Launches Creative Fund to Boost Film, Fashion, Music Industries
The UK–Nigeria Technology Hub has unveiled a new Creative Fund aimed at addressing critical technical capacity gaps across Nigeria’s film, fashion and music sectors.
The initiative, announced in a statement recently by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, marks the first phase of a grant programme designed to strengthen Nigeria’s creative value chain through enhanced digital production capacity, adoption of modern technologies, and responsible use of artificial intelligence.
According to the statement, applications are now open to creative companies, production studios, fashion enterprises, and music labels with clearly defined technical needs, as the UK government moves to support innovation and growth within the sector.
The fund aligns with the objectives of the UK–Nigeria Economic Transformation and Investment Partnership (ETIP) Creatives Working Group, launched in March 2025, and reinforces commitments made during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to the United Kingdom in March 2026.
Designed to empower high-potential creative projects, the programme will provide access to technical talent, digital tools, and infrastructure required to produce, scale, and complete projects within Nigeria, reducing reliance on foreign outsourcing.
The Creative Fund is financed by the UK–Nigeria Tech Hub under the UK Government’s Digital Access Programme and is being implemented by Tech4Dev.
Director of the UK–Nigeria Tech Hub, Oyinkansola Akintola Bello, described the fund as a practical step toward bridging long-standing gaps in the industry.
She noted that while Nigeria’s creative sector already contributes significantly to economic growth, the initiative represents a shift from policy ambition to concrete action.
“The Creative Fund is a practical first-phase intervention that addresses critical gaps in skills, infrastructure, and access to advanced tools, enabling Nigerian creatives to produce and scale high-quality work locally,” Bello said.
The programme will support projects with strong potential for impact, scalability, and job creation, while also facilitating access to digital asset management systems, content delivery tools, digital rights management solutions, and AI-powered production technologies.
Country Manager for Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa at Tech4Dev, Abraham Akpan, emphasised the initiative’s role in promoting inclusion across the creative ecosystem.
He said the fund is designed to expand access to skills, tools, and financing, particularly for underserved groups, ensuring that the growth of Nigeria’s creative economy is both sustainable and inclusive.
The initiative follows insights from the 2024 State of the Creative Innovation Ecosystem in Nigeria report, which highlighted both the sector’s economic contributions and its structural challenges.
The study found that Nigeria’s creative industry employs approximately 4.2 million people and contributes about $3 billion annually to the country’s GDP. However, it also revealed that over 80 per cent of practitioners are self-taught, fewer than 10 per cent have access to formal financing, and a significant portion of high-value technical work is outsourced abroad.
The UK–Nigeria Tech Hub, operating under the UK Government’s Digital Access Programme, supports inclusive and sustainable digital transformation across Nigeria’s technology and creative sectors.
Meanwhile, Tech4Dev continues to drive digital inclusion and economic opportunity across Africa by equipping individuals with relevant skills and access to decent work.
