Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa
The Federal Government said on Friday that it was targeting the creation of two million jobs in the creative industry by 2030 as it moves to turn the country’s cultural assets and creative talent into commercially viable enterprises.
The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, disclosed this on Friday at the closing ceremony of the 2026 Kano Creative Summit, organised by the National Theatre as part of an effort to strengthen Nigeria’s creative economy and equip practitioners with the necessary skills for sustainable businesses.
She challenged creative practitioners in Northern Nigeria to take ownership of their works, strengthen their business structures and leverage intellectual property to generate sustainable incomes.
The two-day summit, which ended on Friday, was themed “Beyond Lagos: Unlocking Northern Nigeria’s Creative Economy.”
Musawa said Kano’s centuries-old creative traditions demonstrated that the city had operated a vibrant creative economy long before the concept became part of formal economic policy.
She cited Kano’s dyeing pits, leatherwork, weaving, embroidery, blacksmithing, traditional performances and Kannywood film industry as creative assets capable of generating significant economic value if properly organised and commercialised.
“Kano had a creative economy long before anyone gave the name creative economy to the industry,” she said.
The minister said Kannywood had developed a significant international audience, reaching Hausa-speaking communities across West Africa and audiences in other parts of the world.
She argued that the contribution of Kannywood should be recognised as an important part of Nigeria’s global film industry alongside Nollywood.
The minister also highlighted Kano’s contribution to literature, noting that women in the city had written, printed and sold novels in local markets as far back as 1958, while artists associated with the Zaria Art Society contributed to the development of modern Nigerian art.
She noted that the appointment of Ali Nuhu, a prominent Kannywood actor and filmmaker, to head the Nigerian Film Corporation demonstrated the Federal Government’s effort to bring practitioners from the creative industry into institutional leadership.
Musawa, however, identified weak commercial structures, inadequate ownership systems and limited market access as major constraints preventing creative practitioners from benefiting fully from their work.
“Talent has never been a problem here,” she said, stressing that the challenge was to ensure that creative work generated sufficient income to make it attractive to younger generations.
She said many traditional craft practitioners were abandoning their occupations because they could no longer earn enough from them to sustain their livelihoods.
“What is missing is rarely talent. It is ownership, business structure, and a way into the market and directly into the money.
“The Federal Government is responding through its creative economy programmes, including an eight-point plan and Destination 2030, which targets two million jobs in the creative industry by 2030,” she said.
According to her, the National Theatre’s decision to take its creative summit to Kano represented part of a broader effort to ensure that opportunities in Nigeria’s creative economy were not concentrated in Lagos and Abuja.
Musawa urged young creatives in Kano and across Northern Nigeria to build businesses around their skills and ensure that the next generation could see sustainable livelihoods in the region’s cultural and creative industries.
