French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade & Economic Attractiveness, Franck Riester has reiterated his country’s continued commitment to trade and economic ties with Nigeria.
He spoke when he visited one of Nigeria’s leading media conglomerate, AIM Group, in his first official visit to Nigeria.
The visit was also geared towards fostering the intra-cultural relationship between France and Nigeria.
Riester acknowledged the resilient spirit of the new generation of Nigerians, who despite the COVID-19 pandemic, had continued to dominate the music and movie production segment, which has witnessed massive returns, impressive international successes, and global commendations as the cinema and music industry has grown to become an inspiration for other countries.
He reaffirmed the dedication of the French government through its foreign policy in supporting cultural and creative industries in partner countries, through set-up like the “Solidarity Fund for Innovative Projects”, which makes it possible to establish sustainable assistance for many cultural projects geared towards creating employment opportunities and economic development.
“The recently held Annecy Lagos Animation Workshop in partnership with the renowned Annecy International Film Festival in France and Animation Nigeria’s association, which will give five Nigerian animation studios the unique opportunity to pitch their works as part of the Nigerian focus during the 2021 edition of the festival as well as the Wazobia Academy which is supported by French partners La FEMIS and LAFAAAC aimed at training 1000 young Nigerian’s professionals to TV series scriptwriting is the evident impact of ongoing projects supported by the French Government in supporting young creatives within Nigeria,” he added.
Co-founder, Wazobia Media, Tatiana Moussalli Nouri expressed gratitude to Riester for the support from the French Government through capacity building initiatives such as collaboration among LAFAAAC, LaFemis and Wazobia Academy, which will impact the growth of the creative industry and further strengthen the ties between Nigeria and France.