Prelims

Half Title Page

The Creative Industries and International Business Development in Africa

Title Page

The Creative Industries and International Business Development in Africa

BY

NNAMDI O. MADICHIE

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nigeria and Bloomsbury Institute, UK

AND

ROBERT EBO HINSON

University of Ghana, Ghana and Lincoln International Business School, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2022

Copyright © 2022 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80071-303-1 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80071-302-4 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80071-304-8 (Epub)

Dedication Page

I would like to dedicate this book to my lovely family. My son Obinna who spurred the need for another book after taking to a previous one on digital entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. To the women in my life – Lynda, my dear wife and Nnenna my daughter, keep being you and remain the creative sparks in our home. To my mum, sister and rest of the Madichie family, thanks for your support.

Nnamdi O. Madichie

I would like to dedicate this book to the beautiful female pillars in my life. From my nuclear family, my wife Duchess and daughter Faith. From my extended family, my mother Frederica, sisters, Isabella and Shirley-Ann; and grandmother Eudora. I love you all. God bless and keep you all!

Robert Ebo Hinson

Contents

List of Tables and Figures

About the Authors

Nnamdi O. Madichie is a Professor of Marketing at the Unizik Business School, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka Nigeria; Research Fellow at the Bloomsbury Institute in London; and Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Robert Ebo Hinson is a Professor at the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Ghana Business School, Ghana, and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Marketing and Tourism, Lincoln International Business School, Lincolnshire in the United Kingdom. He holds a DPhil in Marketing from the University of Ghana and a PhD in International Business from the Aalborg University Business School in Denmark.

Foreword

My sincere gratitude to the authors for the privilege and opportunity afforded me to write the foreword on this pioneering book project. The book, Creative Industries and International Business Development in Africa, is clearly a pioneering project that showcases the ‘beatitudes’, and ‘pain points’, of a sector at the forefront of African development both economically and socially.

From an economic standpoint, the book highlights how decent work especially among the burgeoning youth population and other vulnerable groups have harnessed their pent up talent to make themselves relevant beyond seeking the so-called ‘white collar’ jobs behind desks in multinational corporations. It provides a call to getting hands dirty by monetizing raw talent from arts and crafts to everything digital – animation and games, photography, film, music and streaming.

On the social front, these talents have been able to bring about the much needed change aligning with the slogan of ‘The Africa We Want’. Across the book, there are clear examples of the African story told from the eyes of Africa cutting across the continent and with some strong messages for custodians of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, as well as investors aligned with the initiatives of the African Development Bank (especially in the area of fashion), and Commonwealth – whether through the British Council and its Playable Cities project.

Although the book provides a broad coverage of the sector from intellectual property rights to digital pivoting of film, music and photography, it is Chapter 8 that particularly does it for me. The reason is simple, as an actor myself, it was heart-warming to see the documentation of a series of global streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Canal+, Disney and especially Netflix where I have a catalogue of movies, including some in production, and post-production stages, for example, ’76, The Therapist and Pillars of Africa.

It was also interesting to see the fashion sub-sector of the creative industry being afforded its space alongside animation and games as well as digital photography. Indeed, as a fashion designer and retailer myself, I also like the spotlight on Fisayo Longe, a Nigerian Fashion Designer.

Overall, this book opens minds and provides grounds for further deliberation on a sector that has been ignored for far too long in the African context.

His works are:

• https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81412227

• https://businessday.ng/arts-and-life/article/rita-dominic-chidi-mokeme-take-role-in-new-movie-named-the-therapist/

• https://www.bellanaija.com/2021/06/pillars-of-africa-trailer/

Chidi Mokeme, renowned Nigerian Movie (Nollywood) Actor, TV Personality, Fashion Designer and Motivational Speaker.

Preface

The international business environment has undergone a major turbulence in the past year following the onset of lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing all prompted by COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic in March 2020. These restrictions have limited the revenue generation capacity of both countries and businesses – large and small.

In terms of sector impact, some have been more adversely affected than others. While the winners have been mostly those with a digital footprint, for example, streaming services and video-conferencing platforms, the creative industries have felt a much harder blow.

Broadly speaking this book takes an unorthodox approach to showcasing the trends and challenges of the contemporary creative economy with a view to positioning the sector for a global audience. Drawing upon the categorisations of the Creative Industries Federation, the book interrogates, and highlights, the challenges and opportunities of the creative industries in Africa with a view to aggregating how the sector has coped with a myriad of challenges even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns.

Discussions across the chapters document the changing landscape of the sector, capturing insights from the global value chain to everything digital – from arts to publishing, fashion, film and music production and distribution. Further insights are discussed around recent events such as the take-off of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the exit of Britain from the European Union (i.e. Brexit) – with the latter event reinvigorating the Commonwealth Agenda and renewed, albeit piecemeal East and West interest in Africa’s creative industries.