A filmmaker walks into an investment meeting with a script, a production budget and a story he believes has commercial potential. The financier, however, wants to know more, who owns the intellectual property, how the investment will be recovered, where the film will be distributed and what happens if cinema revenue falls short of projections.
For Nigerian filmmaker Tosin Adesegun, these expectations are a regular feature of investment pitches. He said conversations with prospective financiers quickly move beyond creative concepts to commercial evidence.
Investors want to assess the technical quality and professionalism of his previous work, whether past projects reached their target audiences and whether audience feedback aligned with financial projections.
Due diligence also extends to legal and regulatory compliance, with investors requesting evidence of tax payments and clear intellectual property documentation to protect projects against potential litigation.
The filmmaker is selling a story, but the investor is assessing a business. This difference in expectations is deepening the trust deficit between filmmakers and financial institutions, making it harder for Nigeria’s creative industry to attract the capital needed to grow beyond individual productions.
At a panel discussion on financing the creative and film industries at the 15th edition of the African Film Festival, organised in partnership with the World Bank, Folajimi Alli-Balogun of MBO Capital said both sides must address the problem.
While filmmakers often complain that financiers do not understand the creative process, he said investors also need creatives to understand how investment decisions are made.
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“There’s this sort of trust deficit between the financiers and creatives. Both parties need to meet in the middle somehow so that financiers can be comfortable and so that creatives can trust that financiers understand what it is that they’re trying to do,” he said.
For investors, a promising script is only the starting point. Alli-Balogun said MBO Capital considers the track records of filmmakers and lead producers, production budgets, local and international distribution plans and the project’s contribution to the African creative industry.
The questions reflect the difference between developing a film and preparing it for investment. A Nollywood producer may understand the cost of taking a film from development to completion but struggle to demonstrate how the investment will generate returns.
This gap becomes evident when filmmakers are asked to provide financial projections, audited accounts, distribution agreements and a data room containing documents that establish a project’s commercial structure.
Ann Marème Atayi, senior international institutions manager at Bpifrance, said the problem runs in both directions. Investors do not always understand how creative businesses generate revenue, while creative entrepreneurs may not know what financiers expect before committing capital.
“There is a gap in the understanding that investors have of creative industries, and sometimes, the creative doesn’t exactly know what investors expect from them,” she said.
Atayi said she had to approach industry professionals to understand their business models before she could assess their financing needs.
She argued that investors must understand the economics of creative businesses rather than apply conventional financing expectations without considering how the sector operates.
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A Nollywood film, for instance, may not lend itself to precise financial projections at the development stage. Its commercial performance depends on factors such as audience reception, cinema distribution arrangements, marketing expenditure and the territories in which it is released.
However, uncertainty does not eliminate the need for financial planning. It makes a credible business plan more important.
According to industry experts, producers seeking investment must demonstrate how production budgets were calculated, how much funding has been secured, who owns the intellectual property and how revenue will be shared among investors, producers, distributors and other rights holders.
Distribution agreements, pre-sales and licensing arrangements can also establish potential revenue streams. Without these details, financiers are being asked to commit capital without sufficient clarity on who will collect the earnings or how the investment will be recovered.
What the creative sector asks from you
Nigeria’s existing financing requirements illustrate what financial institutions expect. The Nigerian Export-Import Bank’s Nigerian Creative and Entertainment Industry Loan Scheme requires applicants, depending on the facility, to provide a feasibility report or business plan, audited financial statements for the previous three years, management accounts, evidence of marketing and distribution arrangements, production budgets and, where intellectual property is proposed as collateral, a valuation report.
These requirements show that accessing finance involves more than presenting a compelling creative idea. Filmmakers must demonstrate that the businesses behind their projects can manage funds, protect their assets and generate revenue.
Yet many Nigerian creative businesses lack the financial records and formal structures required by traditional lenders.
A research note published by the Development Bank of Nigeria in October 2026 identified incomplete records, irregular revenue streams and weak intellectual property enforcement as factors increasing lenders’ uncertainty. It noted that many creative businesses still rely on personal savings, informal investors or arrangements that surrender future revenues because conventional credit products do not accommodate their cash flows and intangible assets.
The research also showed that the measured output of Nigeria’s publishing, motion pictures, sound recording and music production, broadcasting, and arts, entertainment and recreation sectors increased from N2.93 trillion in 2014 to N4.57 trillion in 2025, at constant 2019 prices. The figures cover four subsectors and do not represent the entire creative economy.
In the second quarter of 2026, the sector expanded by 11.93 percent year-on-year, nearly three times the overall economy’s growth rate of 4.43 percent.
The size of the market, however, has not automatically translated into accessible financing.
Hannatu Musawa, minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, has said the creative sector needs an additional N100 billion in baseline investment to scale effectively and unlock billions of naira in economic value.
The funding requirement highlights the scale of capital needed to support creative businesses, from film production and distribution to music, fashion and other cultural enterprises. Yet weak financial records, limited intellectual property protection and irregular revenue streams continue to make it difficult for many operators to secure funding from conventional financial institutions.
Samer Abdul Samad, media and pan-African value chain lead at the International Finance Corporation, argued that responsibility for closing the financing gap cannot rest with financial institutions alone.
“It’s very easy to bargain with someone else’s money, but when you have to put on your own money, then you start thinking twice and more,” he said.
He challenged established industry players to commit their own financial resources to emerging businesses, arguing that financiers will not provide capital simply because an industry needs funding. They need commercially viable projects capable of generating returns.
His argument points to another weakness in the financing chain. Nigerian producers often approach investors with individual projects rather than businesses capable of generating revenue across multiple productions.
A production company with an established catalogue, distribution relationships, experienced management and multiple revenue streams may offer a more compelling investment proposition than a first-time filmmaker seeking funding for a single movie.
Atayi highlighted this distinction, explaining that Bpifrance does not finance individual films but focuses on companies, including studios involved in production and distribution.
She also pointed to France’s French Touch Plan, through which existing financial instruments were adapted to the needs of creative businesses rather than creating an entirely separate financing system.
For Nigeria, this raises questions about whether financial institutions have dedicated teams capable of assessing film and television businesses, including their intellectual property, revenue-sharing arrangements and distribution models.
Some financing interventions already exist. The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee established the Creative Industry Financing Initiative in 2018, covering film, music, fashion and information technology.
Its published lending limits range from N3 million to N50 million across eligible categories, with up to N500 million available for movie distribution businesses. However, the cost of film production has increased since the initiative was introduced, driven by rising expenses for materials and skilled labour.
The Federal Government has also announced the Creative Economy Development Fund, with debt, equity and grant financing windows, alongside an intellectual property monetisation pilot. These initiatives recognise the need for more structured financing, although their impact will depend on actual capital deployment and the number of businesses able to access the funds.
For Alli-Balogun, financial structures cannot be developed without understanding the peculiarities of the industry. He said MBO Capital had learnt through experience, engaging industry participants and developing structures suited to the business of filmmaking.
That learning must happen on both sides. Filmmakers need to understand that investors are accountable for the capital they deploy, while financial institutions must recognise that creative businesses do not always operate like conventional manufacturing or retail companies.
Until both sides learn to speak the same financial language, a good story may continue to find an audience without finding the capital needed to reach it.
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Anthony Udugba is a seasoned entertainment business journalist at BusinessDay Media, boasting over four years of experience in the creative industry. With a proven track record of delivering insightful analysis and in-depth coverage, he leverages industry data, expert opinions, and stakeholder insights to craft compelling stories that shed light on the dynamic creative ecosystem.
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