The UK-Nigeria Technology Hub has introduced its Creative Fund, a first-phase grants initiative aimed at bridging critical technical capacity gaps across Nigeria's film, fashion, and music industries. The fund will foster local digital production capacity, encourage the adoption of modern creative technologies, and promote the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to strengthen Nigeria's creative value chain.
Supporting Economic Transformation
Announced on April 29, 2026, the initiative supports the priorities of the UK-Nigeria Economic Transformation and Investment Partnership (ETIP) Creative Working Group, launched in March 2025. It also fulfills commitments made during President Bola Tinubu's State visit to the UK in March 2026. The fund ensures that high-potential creative projects can access the technical talent, tools, and resources needed to produce, scale, and complete their work locally.
Addressing Structural Constraints
Funded by the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub under the UK Government's Digital Access Programme and implemented by Tech4Dev, the Creative Fund responds to evidence from the 2024 State of the Creative Innovation Ecosystem in Nigeria study. With over 1,700 survey responses and fieldwork across seven states, the research revealed that Nigeria's creative economy employs about 4.2 million people and contributes roughly $3 billion to GDP annually. However, over 80% of practitioners are self-taught, fewer than 10% have access to formal financing, and high-value technical work is often outsourced abroad.
Oyinkansola Akintola-Bello, Director of the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, stated: “Nigeria’s creative sector already delivers real economic value, and both governments have committed under the UK-Nigeria Economic Transformation and Investment Partnership to supporting its growth. Through the ETIP Creatives Working Group, we are moving from ambition to action. The Creative Fund is a practical first-phase intervention that addresses critical gaps in skills, infrastructure, and access to advanced tools, enabling Nigerian creatives to produce and scale high-quality work locally.”
Focus on Film, Fashion, and Music
The fund will support high-potential projects in film, fashion, and music, emphasizing initiatives with strong potential for impact, scalability, and job creation. It will subsidize projects needing to close technical gaps, such as hiring critical specialists like VFX artists, sound engineers, post-production editors, and design professionals, or acquiring digital tools like asset management systems, content delivery tools, Digital Rights Management solutions, and AI-driven production technologies. The goal is clear: Nigeria's best creative work should be produced within the country.
