Nigeria’s Nollywood productions slip in first quarter of 2021

According to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, 416 Nigerian movies were produced in the first quarter of 2021, down from 903 in the last quarter of 2020.

CAPE TOWN, May 18 (ANA) – According to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 416 Nigerian movies were produced in the first quarter of 2021, down from 903 films produced in the last quarter of 2020.

The NBS said on Monday that Lagos State produced the highest number of movies in the first quarter of 2021, while Benin and Bauchi recorded the lowest, with two movies each.

According to Nigeria’s Premium Times, although the agency did not give a reason for the sharp fall, it stated that the decrease indicated a decline of 53.93% quarter on quarter.

The number of movies produced in the first quarter of 2020 was 407, indicating a growth of 2.21% year on year, before Covid-19 struck.

Meanwhile, cinema attendance in Nigeria is finally growing after a significant drop during the first quarter of the year, according to recent statistics released by the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), reported the website technext.ng.

According to the website, in April, cinemas admitted 269,008 movie watchers, a 60% growth from the 168,000 who visited cinemas in March and the 177,220 in February.

Veteran Nollywood actor Ejike Okoye told daily news publication Vanguard Nigeria in April that Nollywood today is far better than Nollywood of yesterday in terms of product quality. He added that he was impressed at the rate at which production quality had improved.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the entertainment industry in the West African country as restrictions across the continent remain in place in anticipation of a third wave of infections that seems imminent, according to health authorities.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher