The Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has announced that the $200m African Export-Import Bank fund to boost Nigeria’s tourism and creative economy will become operational on June 1, 2025.
Musawa, in a statement by her Special Assistant on Compliance and Coordination, Jummai Ali, on Wednesday, said the funding would be directly injected into the sector to accelerate its growth.
“As part of the funding effort, the minister has secured a commitment of $200m from Afrexim Bank, which will accelerate the building of the cultural and creative industries,” the statement read.
The minister also disclosed that talks were ongoing with international investors, following the unveiling of the Ministry’s policies to grow Nigeria’s creative economy into a $100bn industry by 2030.
According to her, $2bn is being mobilised from global and local sources to support job creation and expand the sector.
“The ministry is focused on four strategic pillars to drive its economic diversification project,” Musawa was quoted as saying.
The four pillars include data-driven insights through the D-30 projects, stakeholder collaboration and policy reforms, infrastructure modernisation via public-private partnerships, and global tourism and cultural promotion under the “Nigeria Everywhere” brand.
She stated that these initiatives were designed to double the tourism sector’s Gross Domestic Product contribution, create over two million jobs by 2030, and position Nigeria among the top 20 creative economies in the world.
Musawa reiterated the ministry’s commitment to transforming Nigeria into a global tourism hub, aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda for economic diversification and job creation.
