QEDNG Positions Creative Economy For Investment-Led Growth

By Ovio Peters

QEDNG, through the second edition of its Creative Powerhouse Summit in Lagos recently, brought together creative-industry leaders, policymakers and business executives to examine how investment, technology, finance and policy can convert Nigeria’s cultural influence into greater economic value. Founder of Chams Holdco and summit Chairman, Demola Aladekomo, called for a structured investment ecosystem, while Bank of Industry National Coordinator, Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises programme, Ife Adebayo, highlighted artificial intelligence (AI) as both a disruption and an opportunity for creative businesses.

DECISION HIGHLIGHT

The summit’s central proposition is that Nigeria’s creative economy requires a shift from talent-led activity to investment-backed enterprise, with capital, intellectual property, technology, skills and global distribution treated as economic infrastructure.

DECISION MEMO

The significance of the QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit, spearheaded by Mr. Olumide Iyanda, lies in its attempt to reposition creativity from cultural influence to investable economic activity. Nigeria already possesses international demand for its music, film, fashion and storytelling. The constraint identified by Aladekomo is the country’s ability to organise, finance, protect and monetise that demand.

“Our culture is one of the few Nigerian assets that the world consumes willingly, repeatedly and emotionally,” Aladekomo said. “When the world is willing to consume our creativity, the question should no longer be whether Nigeria has something to offer. The question is whether Nigeria is organised enough to capture the value.”

That argument places enterprise structure at the centre of creative-sector development. Aladekomo called for creative professionals to be treated as entrepreneurs, employers, exporters and owners of valuable intellectual property, rather than simply as talent.

The economic opportunity is significant. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that global exports of creative services reached $1.7 trillion in 2024. Aladekomo cited the United Kingdom’s creative-industries strategy, built around investment, innovation, skills, finance and exports, as evidence that creative industries can be developed through deliberate economic policy.

“Successful countries don’t leave strategically important industries to chance. So we shouldn’t leave the creative industry to chance,” he said.

The investment case, however, increasingly intersects with technology. Adebayo described artificial intelligence as “the largest fire that Nigerian storytelling has ever been handed”, reflecting both the potential for productivity gains and the disruption of established creative jobs.

His assessment is that technological substitution will change jobs rather than eliminate creative work entirely. “The jobs are just going to change. It’s not like they’re going to go away,” he said.

Examples already emerging among young Nigerians, including AI-assisted music learning, local-language film dubbing and faster creation of detailed Lagos scenes, demonstrate the productivity potential. But Adebayo stressed that access to technology without skills could leave Nigeria capturing only a fraction of the value.

“A tool is only ever as powerful as the hands that hold it,” he said, warning: “If we don’t train those hands, the value of this revolution will not be fully exploited, and we will become consumers of our own genius all over again.”

The resulting investment proposition is therefore broader than funding individual creative projects. Aladekomo identified five priorities: moving from talent to enterprise, financing creativity, protecting and monetising intellectual property, taking Nigerian creativity to global markets, and developing globally oriented business builders.

The summit’s evolution from its 2025 focus on financing towards investment, innovation, policy and partnerships suggests a widening understanding of the sector’s capital requirements. The next stage is converting that framework into investable businesses with measurable revenues, defensible intellectual property and scalable distribution.

Aladekomo’s concluding proposition captures the ownership dimension: “Nigeria’s next chapter should not be merely written by Nigerians; it should be imagined by Nigerians, created by Nigerians, owned by Nigerians and consumed by the world.”

DATA BOX

• Global creative-services exports: $1.7tn in 2024.
• Summit: second edition of QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit.
• Location: Lagos.
• Previous summit: 2025.
• Core investment priorities: enterprise, finance, intellectual property, global markets and skills.
• Technology focus: artificial intelligence, creative productivity and workforce adaptation.
• Participating sectors: film, music, advertising, publishing, technology, law, cultural tourism and content creation.

WHO WINS / WHO LOSES

Creative entrepreneurs with commercially viable intellectual property, scalable distribution and technology capabilities stand to benefit from a more structured investment ecosystem. Investors and technology companies also gain access to a potentially expanding market.

Creative businesses that remain dependent on informal structures, weak IP protection or purely talent-driven models risk being unable to capture the value generated by growing global demand.

POLICY SIGNALS

The summit strengthens the case for treating the creative economy as an enterprise and investment sector requiring coordinated intervention across finance, education, technology, intellectual property and export development.

INVESTOR SIGNAL

The opportunity lies beyond creative visibility. Investable propositions will increasingly require identifiable intellectual property, recurring revenue, scalable distribution, technology adoption and credible management. The sector’s cultural influence provides demand; enterprise structure determines whether that demand becomes financial value.

RISK RADAR

The principal risks are inadequate financing, weak intellectual property protection, insufficient technical skills and technology-driven displacement. Without deliberate investment in skills and business infrastructure, artificial intelligence could increase productivity while much of the resulting economic value accrues outside Nigeria.