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Co-founder of Inkblot Productions Damola Ademola has urged the Federal Government to consider tax treaties to scale up film production in the Nigerian film industry.
In a panel session at TechCabal’s Moonshot, he disclosed that it has become difficult for international productions to come and shoot anything in Nigeria because there is no provision for tax treaty in comparison to other countries.
“It’s better for them to go to South Africa, shoot, have a yellow bus and put a strip on it that indicates Lagos rather than come to Lagos. All they need to do is fly our actors to South Africa. The moment we have tax treaties, our pre-production gets better, and the moment it does, that automatically raises the Nigerian industry,” he said.
He further breaks down what it costs to produce a film in Nigeria, as almost 20% of the film budget is gone when tax and insurance payments have been settled. However, this does not apply to major African countries like South Africa.
“If I go to South Africa, they give a tax rebate, insurance will bear the cost of that, I go from having $70 million in Nigeria to $95 million. What the government is doing on the flip side is that since production is going to be paying more people, they are going to be taxing those people as opposed to tasking the production company,” he added.
In comparison, major film centres like Georgia, India and more pay tax treaties. Ademola believes this is one of the reasons Tyler Perry’s studio is located in Georgia because it’s easier to shoot there.
Although discussions have been had with Nigeria’s Minister of Culture to understand this case, he believes that Nigeria is losing out by not offering treaties as it not only reduces the industry’s production value but it reduces the opportunities available for creatives in the industry.
Ladun Awobokun, FilmOne Entertainment’s General Manager, also agrees. During her session, one of the problems she highlighted was the industry being “heavily tasked.”
The post How Taxation Is Stifling Growth In Nollywood – Damola Ademola appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
