#Opportunity- Towards an Agenda for The Nigerian Creative Industries

 

Are you interested in the Nigerian Creative    Industries? You should be- they are one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy and have immense potential to address issues such as national development and youth unemployment among others.

One of the challenges being faced in the Nigerian Creative economy though is in our ability to understand, organize and tap value from it, in a way that is mutually beneficial for all- creators,      distributors, regulators and users.

The need for developing a national creative industries    strategy for Nigeria has been identified by The British Council   and Gen Talks Creative. With the support of First bank, they are working with stakeholders in  the creative industries to explore the following:

·         The profile and dynamics of the creative industries in Nigeria: what is happening, trending and moving the sector forward

·         YOUR aspirations for the creative industries – such as your professional and business interests or your dreams for a specific sector, city or region

·         YOUR perspective on what the sector needs to develop, grow, innovate and make a real difference to the economy and society of Nigeria.

In the light of this, an online platform has been launched www.gentalkscreative.com. The objective is to aggregate input from  stakeholders on various creative industry sectors including advertising, Broadcasting, Film, Publishing, Software & Gaming.

As it happens, I am a moderator in the design category. Thus, I am particularly interested in hearing from those interested in  design,  designers of all kinds, engineers, industrial designers,  product  designers e.t.c.

Over the next few weeks we would be asking a series of questions to  guide the conversation.

Today we are asking;  How can we mobilise a new generation of design practitioners who collectively can find design solutions for Nigeria?

Please follow this  link http://bit.ly/1pUI7D8  to share your thoughts-

Thanks in advance.

#OP-ED: The Nigerian Creative Industries - Tackling The Challenges

In recent times there have been numerous reports about the relevance of the creative industries to the development of National economies.

It has been reported that world trade in creative goods and services is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, doubling from 2002 to 2011, when it reached a record of US$ 624 billion. At the same time, developing countries averaged 12.1 per cent annual growth in the export of creative goods and services.

According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, Helen Clark,  “The cultural and creative industries are important engines of economic growth. They generate jobs and income and contribute to individual and community well-being in both developed and developing economies”

In Africa, the creative industries have experienced immense growth in the past decade. An October  2013 Business Day article reported, Oby Ezekwesili, the former Minister of Education and former Vice President of the World Bank, Africa,  as valuing  Nigeria’s  creative industry potential at over N5 trillion with annual turn-over of over N500 billion- indicating that it could be a bigger asset than the country’s oil industry.

With all of the optimism being expressed, the potential of the creative economy is not without its challenges. In this post, I aim to highlight some options for tackling the challenges facing the creative industries; before that though, just in case you’re wondering “What, exactly are the creative industries?” and “Why are they important?”

#101 SERIES: Dear Nigerian Blogger - Avoiding Intellectual Property Pitfalls

Two days ago, I came upon some reports  that a journalist, Aye Dee, successfully got Google to takedown infringing content on the popular Nigerian blog lindaikeji.blogspot.com. (Linda Ikeji, in case you don’t know, is a Nigerian blogger, whose blog page  is among the 10 most visited sites in Nigeria.

Apparently, there has been some backlash against her on social media- as indicated by comments and other reports. It is difficult not to wonder how much of this is due to disapproval of what some feel she represents, what some might call “beef” and how much of it is really concerned with the issue at hand i.e. copyrights and related infringements.

Yesterday, Linda, in her characteristically un-fazed manner, responded to the issues in a long rebuttal. Her reply may be summarized as follows: 

• She did not infringe on Mr Aye Dee’s rights because she has never been to his site.
• 1.       The real reason Aye Dee & co are raising this claim is because they are  “haters”  trying to take her blog down_ because
  

OP-ED: Africa: Between Current Challenges And The Need For Educational Innovation

In previous write ups I have highlighted the importance of education to innovation. In this one, I intend to draw attention to the importance of innovation in education. This write up begins with the relationships between challenges and opportunities and how these can stimulate innovation.

Two major challenges which have hit Nigeria in recent times are the rise of insurgency and more recently the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). In processing the immediate impacts of these, in terms of loss of lives and liberty, it is easy to lose sight of the impact it is having on other sections of the socio-economic polity. One sector being seriously impacted is Education.

OP-ED: Connecting Law, Entrepreneurship And Innovation

Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at the National Open University during the Law Week Dinner of the University's Law society. While I had been nominated in view of my experience with intellectual property law, I was given a blank check to speak on any topic of my choosing. I used the opportunity to speak on a range of things that were within my areas of interest, in a way that was relevant to them. Below are some of the key insights I shared.

Let’s begin with some working definition of the key terms: 

• Law: A rule defining correct procedure or behavior for individuals, businesses, organizations and societies.

• Entrepreneurship:  The process of starting a business or other organization. The entrepreneur develops a business model, acquires the human and other required resources, and is fully responsible for its success or failure (Wikipedia).The entrepreneurial mindset is usually characterized by risk-taking and innovation.

• Innovation: A new method, idea or product; a new thing, or a new way of doing an old thing.

• The need for regulation to guide a business environment becoming increasingly complex

#101 Series: Protecting Your Ideas: An Introduction to Non-Disclosure Agreements

One of the aims of this blog is to aid the understanding and creation of Intellectual Property (IP). Intellectual Property refers to creations of the mind that may be transformed into a functional, visual and/or artistic form for the benefit and enjoyment of others.  One of the key goals of Intellectual Property Law is the protection of ideas by the owner.

Ideas may be protected by various means; by copyrights in the case of a literary or artistic work, by a patent- if you are an inventor who has created a functional product, a trademark   for your logo, product or cartoon character, or by a registered design for the way   a product looks.

Regardless of what type of intellectual property you are protecting, there will be a need to share your ideas with some people such as investors, technical partners or promoters, before the product gets to the market.   At this stage, issues like confidentiality, non-circumvention and non-disclosure become important.

Many years ago, I submitted a proposal to a Finance Company in response to an open Request for Proposal (RFP).  The lady who received my proposal was really pleasant, and I was really hopeful.

After awaiting feedback for what I figured was too long a time, I decided to approach someone in the company who ought to know about the RFP. He came back to me saying he didn’t find my proposal in all the submissions. However, he saw a proposal which was almost identical to mine (as per the copy I showed him), and it had been submitted by a company the husband of the pleasant lady worked for.

OP ED: Nigeria's New National ID Card, What's A Nation's Identity Worth?

One of the high points of the news in Nigeria last week, was the announcement of the New National Identity Card launched by the federal Government, through the Nigerian Identity Management Commission.

The card allows handlers effect payments and other financial transactions, stores their biometric data  and also serves as a means of identification. The cards will be issued to Nigerians, 16 years and older, and are expected to serve as voting cards in the 2019 elections.

While it was flagged off by the president himself with a lot of fanfare and enthusiasm by its core sponsors and promoters, it was greeted with outrage

Op-Ed: On African Innovation: Where Do We Begin?

             

In the first installment of this series on African Innovation, I sought to establish the fact Africa was ripe for innovation, if necessity was the mother of invention,   and that African innovation, need not be high-tech. In the second part (read here), I asked the   question:  Can African Innovate? My preliminary answer : Africans Innovate, therefore Africa can innovate, IF…

The “IF” introduced a series of preconditions, which would be critical for driving relevant African Innovation. 

In this edition, I would like to address one of those pre-conditions by asking the question, where do we begin? 

In order to get “there” however, a little digression: a few days ago I read some refreshing news about two Nigerian female students who had won an Award in the Medicine and Health category, of the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair, in LA. They had found a solution for bad breath using walnuts. They actually came up with an hypotheses and tested it by conducting structured research into it leading to  an innovation that solves a problem which according to them is  faced by many of their peers.

They were secondary school students (Doregos Academy), just like the other young girls (Where are the guys?) the ones who powered a generator using urine.

This story was refreshing in and of itself, but it further served to reinforce my belief that African Innovation must begin with Africa’s Education.  We cannot change a people until we

Dear Artiste: Ten Questions To Ask Before You Sign That Recording Contract (Conclusion)

In the first installment of this article (you can read here) I highlighted the first three questions:

• What do I really need from the record label?

• What is the scope of the contract?

• What costs are recoupable by the record label?

In this second and final installment, helped by a warning from my Editor to conclude the  post and to avoid “to be continued write ups” in the future, I’ll jump right into the last seven questions to ask:

#Opportunities: Call For Applications - Innovation Prize For Africa

The IPA is an initiative of the African Innovation Foundation (AIF) started in 2011. IPA honours and encourages innovative achievements that contribute toward developing new products, increasing efficiency or saving cost in Africa. 


The prize also promotes among young African men and women the pursuit of science, technology and engineering careers as well as business opportunities with potential of contributing to sustainable development in Africa. Specifically, the award targets technological breakthroughs in such main concern areas as manufacturing and service industry, health and well-being,agriculture and agribusiness, environment, energy and water and ICTs. To date, there have been three (3) rounds of competition.

• Mobilizing leaders from all sectors to fuel African innovation

• Promoting innovation across Africa in key sectors through the competition

• Promoting science, technology and engineering as a rewarding,career path among African youth.

• Encouraging entrepreneurs, innovators, funding bodies and business development service providers to exchange ideas and explore innovative business opportunities.

IPA 2015 consists of three prizes:

• USD 100,000 for the winner with the best innovation based on marketability, originality, scalability, social impact, scientific/technical aspect and clear business potentials

• USD 25,000 for the Second Prize with the best commercial/business potential and

• USD 25,000 for the Special Prize for Social Impact Innovation which awards the innovation with the highest social impact in the community/country.

The IPA is focused on:

By providing USD 150,000 to winners who deliver market-oriented solutions for African-led development, the IPA acknowledges and encourages the endeavor of innovators and entrepreneurs and works to raise their profiles on the development agenda.

Application deadline: 31st October, 2014 

For more info, visit: http://ow.ly/AwkL3 

Slideshare: Understanding Film And Intellectual Property

For those who missed it, below is a link to a presentation delivered by the Principal Partner Adelphi Consulting, Ese Oraka, at the Film Production Fund/Project Nollywood Act/LBS Entrepreneurial Development Service Capacity Building Workshop, Lagos, Nigeria. 



The Federal government launched Project ACT, a 3 billion naira film intervention fund managed by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of culture and tourism. A sub component of this fund is the Film Production Fund 700 million Naira film production fund with the aim of the allocating grants to production companies and independent producers who were at different stages of production.



Sometime in April, prequalified applicants for the fund- as part of the process- attended two day workshops organized in conjunction with Lagos Business School in Lagos, Kano and Abuja. They were expected to receive training on things that related to the business side of film production, and participants attended session’s on business modeling business planning and related stuff. 



For those who were not there or for those who were there and didn’t get the slides; click the link to view or download the presentation: http://ow.ly/AwjbZ 

OP- ED: On African Innovation - Can Africa Innovate? (Part 2)

In the first part of this series (If you missed it you can read it here), I tried to make a couple of points:

• If necessity was the mother of invention then Africa was ripe for innovation

• The current discourse and examples of African innovation appears to be skewered towards ICT and may be distracting from the need to innovate in more critical sectors

• Innovation, especially African Innovation, needs not be high-tech.

• If we develop a broad definition of innovation and not rely solely on the silicon valley version of it.

• If we pace ourselves and develop innovations organically, rather than leaping to building a satellite to launch into space. China has grown its innovation from being a  low-cost producer of manufactured goods for the rest of the world and is now seeking  to develop higher value-added products.

These thoughts would be recurring threads in the series, but for now, the question I am trying to answer is Can Africa Innovate? I had given examples of Africans who had innovated in both ICT and non-ICT related sectors,  African’s are innovative, it take a lot of innovation to live in many parts of Africa.  But can Africa innovate in the way and on the scale that globally innovative companies do?

While, researching this Article, I googled my question “Can Africa Innovate?” Scanning through the first thirty results, I couldn’t find one article asking the  question. I began to wonder if the question was moot for many, if  it was unnecessary i.e why even bother asking?

I decided to run a search with the question “Can China Innovate?” Within the first ten results, there where links to articles or reports either asking the same question or variations of it, and other results including “Why China Cant innovate” “Joe Biden Is Wrong- China Does Innovate” and “Chinese Can Innovate But China Cant.”

Would I be wrong if I assumed that no one was asking if Africa could innovate, because no one thought Africa could? I’m still thinking about it, but this is my preliminary answer:  Africans are innovative, thus Africa can innovate: 

We must introduce innovation, critical thinking and intellectual property into our school curriculum; and this does not necessarily need to disrupt the current process significantly. Our schools must move from teaching to learning, the students should be moved from focusing on passing exams to solving problems.

We need to educate Nigerian investors and venture capitalist on investing in innovative companies, it takes a different mindset, and investors in these parts tend to be scared of investing in untested models.

We need engineers. Not just engineers but engineers who understand creativity, design and business innovation - most of the innovative western companies were founded by engineers.

Government needs to play its role in protecting intellectual property and financing innovation hubs directly connected to research institutions and or industries where they are located.

I intend to address each of these issues with more detail in subsequent parts of the series, until then though, I’m putting the question to you: Can Africa Innovate? 

Do share your thoughts with us. Thanks and have a great week.

©Ese Oraka

Image credit: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/matthewdepaula/files/2014/06/8161674482_6afa443513_c.jpg

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Ese Oraka is a Lawyer and Business Designer. He has extensive knowledge and experience in IP and Business Law, Innovation Management and Business Model Design. He is a founding partner at Adelphi Consulting. You can find him on - Twitter: @eseoraka, Facebook: /ese.oraka.9, or email info@adelphionline.com