Nigeria’s rapidly growing Nollywood re-defines Africa’s story

Currently Nigerian films outsell Hollywood films in Nigeria and in most if Africa. Nollywood is a very rapidly growing film industry in Nigeria, growing within the last 2 decades to become the second largest film industry on the planet, behind the Indian film industry (Bollywood).

The stories told by Nigeria’s booming film industry, known as Nollywood, have emerged as a cultural phenomenon across Africa, the vanguard of the country’s growing influence across the continent in music, comedy, fashion and even religion.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, overtook its rival, South Africa, as the continent’s largest economy 2 years ago, thanks in part to the film industry’s explosive growth.

Nollywood – a term coined when Nigeria’s movies were just starting to gain popularity outside the country – is an expression of boundless Nigerian entrepreneurialism and the nation’s self-perception as the natural leader of Africa, the one destined to speak on the continent’s behalf.

Nollywood generates about 2,500 movies a year, making it the second-biggest producer after Bollywood in India, and its films have displaced American, Indian and Chinese ones on the televisions that are ubiquitous in bars, hair salons, airport lounges and homes across Africa. The industry employs a million people – second only to farming – in Nigeria, pumping US$600 million annually into the national economy, according to a 2014 report by the United States International Trade Commission.

Read more: The New York Times