The British Council, has expressed satisfaction over its involvement in the state visit of Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the United Kingdom.
According to the Council, the visit also represents a significant diplomatic opportunity to enhance cultural ties and foster growth in creative industries, which have been identified as key drivers of economic development by both nations.
During the visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, both countries announced two important developments in their cultural and creative cooperation.
These announcements underline a joint commitment to strengthening long-term partnerships, building institutional capability and supporting sustainability.
Today’s announcements mark a shift towards a more structured collaboration, with both countries recognising the need for stronger systems, improved infrastructure and enhanced professional capability to sustain Nigeria’s growing global creative economy. The shared aim is to deliver practical, long-term value through stronger partnerships and technical cooperation.
The creative economy is a powerful driver of inclusive economic growth, innovation, employment, and cultural influence. In the UK, the creative industries are recognised as one of the country’s highest-growth sectors, supported through government funding, investment incentives, and industrial strategy to boost innovation, skills development, export growth, and international partnerships.
This includes commitment to drive regional and sectoral growth, support scaling businesses, and enhance export competitiveness across creative sub-sectors such as film, music, gaming and design.
Besides, Nigeria has articulated a comprehensive vision to grow its creative economy through initiatives such as the Nigeria Destination 2030 creative economy framework, skills development priorities, strategic policy reforms, and fostering public–private partnerships aimed at scaling creative business outputs and increasing global competitiveness.
The sector is recognised as a key engine for job creation and foreign exchange earnings, with explicit targets to increase the value of creative industries and strengthen infrastructure, digital integration, and international market access.
The UK/Nigeria Bilateral Season will support the development of creative systems and partnerships by focusing on artistic collaboration, creative infrastructure, institutional capacity, skills development and exchange.
The season will focus on strengthening creative systems and production infrastructure, including the adoption of emerging technology; supporting skills development and leadership across arts, culture and education sectors; improving access to UK and international markets through structured mobility pathways and industry engagement, and enabling UK and Nigerian creative institutions to form lasting partnerships that continue beyond the Season.
Activities will take place across both countries in 2028, following two years of partner engagement involving visiting delegations and programme incubation, unlocking resources in both countries to catalyse greater cultural collaboration.
Arts Minister Ian Murray said, ‘Culture has an amazing power to bring people together. When we work together, we open our eyes to new creative possibilities and build opportunities to grow our creative sectors.
‘‘With the UK being home to the largest Nigerian diaspora in Europe, we’re perfectly placed to make the most of these opportunities. So many of our brightest stars have shared heritage across Nigeria and Britain, and I look forward to these cultural bonds only growing stronger through the joint Season of Culture in 2028.’’