Nigeria’s NFVCB joins South Africa, others to harmonise African content

NATIONAL Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB)-Nigeria, the South African Film and Publication Board (FPB), and similar industry regulators across Africa, are seeking a collaborative approach to harmonise regulation of creative content in the continent.

This was a deliberation by heads of the agencies and policy makers at the “Harmonisation of Content Regulation in Africa Summit” which held from March 18 to March 20 in Sandton, South Africa.

Leading the Nigerian delegation, Mr Adedayo Thomas, Executive Director of the NFVCB, made a presentation on “Harmonisation of Content Regulation in Africa: A Case for The Movie Industry.”

He identified harmonised capacity building program across Africa , proper management of content ‘travelability ‘, a well-defined censorship and classification and cyber safety as factors that needed adequate attention in movie content harmonisation.

According to Thomas, although African countries have individual legislative frameworks that govern the way they regulate content, there was need to form a common front because of diversity of cultures and values.

“There are certain capacity building programme that must be harmonised if Africa is to make headway in this modern age of technology,” he said.

“One of such capacity building program is a good focus on script writing in order to stimulate and advance skills development to meet the current needs of the film industry. In storytelling, especially, our own story should instigate action for economic development, and If a certain level of harmony is achieved at this level, production will follow suit.”

The NFVCB boss, however, charged content regulators across the continent to embrace a harmonised regulatory framework.

“In essence, a harmonized and regulatory framework on content regulation is the bedrock on which every other issue will stand.”

He therefore urged African content developers to give national interest and security, human right and dignity and children’s safety utmost consideration in creating their works.

Dr Maria Motebang, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the FPB, in her welcome address, said that countries can no longer operate in isolation in content regulation because of the ‘travelability’ of content over the internet.

“We believe that in a continent as diverse and unevenly developed as ours is, we can gain more by leveraging each other’s strengths to ensure the protection of our children and the vulnerable peoples within our borders,” she said.

“Developments in the Internet and Communications Technologies have reshaped the world we live in so significantly, as online streaming of entertainment content, notably online gaming is fast approaching mainstream film industry in revenue generation.

The event, which was hosted by the FPB, also had in attendance industry regulators and stakeholders from Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland and Lesotho, among other delegates.