movie industry in the country and enhance its viability. The programme, tagged Project Nollywood, is worth N3 billion.
The president disclosed this during a dinner he held in honour of Nollywood stars to mark the 20 years of the industry at the State House, Marina, Lagos, on Saturday night. He said the grant was in continuation of the desire of his administration to uplift the industry, which, he observed, could take over from the oil and gas industry in income generation for the country.
According to the president, the special programme would be formally launched in the first week of April. He assured that his administration would continue to give the needed support to Nollywood, to enable it to take the Nigerian movie industry to greater height of success: “I invited the private sector to this dinner, because I believe that they can also support the efforts to further develop the overall value chain of the industry.”
President Jonathan also revealed that he had requested the NEXIM Bank and the Bank of Industry to give Nollywood more access loans. Noting that the industry had already achieved great success in its 20 years of existence, Jonathan urged stakeholders not to rest on their laurels.
