Audio Visual Services

According to a 2010 global cinema survey conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS), Nigeria has overtaken the United States for second place in the global production of motion pictures. India remains the largest film producer in the world, producing 1041 feature films in 2005 and 900 short films in 52 different languages and dialects.  The US has in the past been the next largest producer of motion pictures, however Nigeria is closing the gap, outperforming the US for second place.  For Nigeria this is certainly no small accomplishment. 


According to the survey, Nollywood produced 872 productions  and in contrast, the United States produced 485 major films. The three heavyweights were followed by eight countries that produced more than 100 films: Japan (417), China (330), France (203), Germany (174), Spain (150), Italy (116), South Korea (110) and the United Kingdom (104).

The explosive growth of Nigeria’s Nollywood film industry attracts considerable attention, especially for developing countries looking for alternatives to the US or European models of film production and distribution, which require considerable investment.  To begin with, Nigerian film makers uncovered a winning formula by relying on video instead of screen film in order to reduce production costs.  Additionally, Nigeria capitalized on economies of scale given its sizable domestic market and her exports to the African continent and the diaspora.  One reason for Nollywood's popularity in Africa lies with the South African-based cable television MultiChoice, which is a fee-based broadcaster to the continent with 24-hour channels dedicated to African content, predominantly Nigeria productions. 

I should note however that these developments are not necessarily a result of Nigeria’s participation in multilateral or regional trade in services agreements but rather a result of home-grown supply capacity, technology usage and application of low cost approaches.  Trade in services negotiations however, are useful for the elimination of barriers to trade where the capacity to supply a market is hindered by regulatory measures.  In this regard, trade in services negotiations at the WTO aim to increase the liberalization commitments undertaken by participating Member States.  However, the audio visual sector is one in which fewest WTO Members have undertaken specific commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and it attracts significant MFN exemptions; a reflection of the controversial and divergent policy and cultural views among Members. 

For instance the European Community has almost no multilateral commitments in this sector and in the EC’s EPA Services, Investment and E-commerce template, the EC has excluded the sector from the scope of the EPA negotiations with ACP countries, of which Nigeria is a Member.  African countries could however choose to include this sector in the EPA negotiations with a view to developing an international advantage in the sub sector.  However the EPA trade in services negotiations would need to give priority to the development of services supply capacity rather than traditional market opening.

As one would expect, the US is a demanduer in this area and has effectively used bilateral and regional services agreements to advance audio visual commitments undertaken by its FTA negotiating partners e.g. Morocco in the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement of 2006.  However these bilateral commitments have not necessary resulted in increased multilateral offers in the WTO Doha round, even though the sector is a dynamic one. 

International trade in audiovisual services extends to the production (including processing and finishing), distribution (including broadcasting) and exhibition of motion pictures, television and radio services.  It also includes sound recording and other entertainment such as theatre, bands, orchestras etc and includes the sale of advertising or promotion services. Additionally, the WTO Services Sectoral Classification List termed the W/120 also includes Recreational, Cultural and Sporting Services sector, under which news agency services are classified as a subsector and hence can be considered alongside audio visual services.