Discover Goldmines in Nigeria Animation Career Path

Discover Goldmines in Nigeria Animation Career Path

The main sectors that are currently sustaining the Nigeria economy, other than Oil, are Nollywood, Nigeria Music Industry, Telecommunication and Information Technology.

Any wise Nigerian should look in the direction of these sectors to achieve financial sustainability in the midst of the country's present economic chaos.

For the young people who wish to take their destinies into their hands, the growing appeal for the use of Computer Animation in online advertising and mobile applications is offering a rare opportunity to ameliorate the scourge of unemployment in the country. There is no better time to jump into it than now.

Gone are the days when Computer Animation wholly relied on people that are able to draw, today's animators use specialized software to help them draw.

Sure, animators are rare unlike lawyers, engineers, and doctors. But scarcity creates value. All you need is some passion and determination to be exceptional.

The career path in Computer Animation encourages self development. Despite the requirement of a foundational education in the field, people can learn how to animate using personal computers by constant practice. Free and inexpensive tutorials abound online for the aspiring animators to learn and master.

Globally, a large amount of animators work from home. They have opportunities for freelance or contract work for companies and government establishments.

The great thing about pursuing a career in Computer Animation is that it transcends cultural and linguistic barriers. That means  a local content can have a global appeal or market.  

Goldmines in Nigeria Computer Animation include:

Online Advertising 

The traditional means of marketing in Nigeria is gradually becoming extinct. It's being replaced by online advertising at a noticeable speed. Businesses are reaching millions of people easily and more inexpensively via the internet. Computer Animations is allowing companies to offer the massive online audience visually compelling messages about specific products and brands.

YouTube Partner Program

Animators who join YouTube Partner Program can earn tremendous money by posting short Animated movies to YouTube .  The earnings is based on the total number of views the filmmaker has received. According to Wall Street Journal, those who join YouTube’s Partner Program receive between $1,500 and $4,500(US) for every million video views.

Mobile Device Application

According to Statista, mobile device applications, globally, are projected to generate around $189 billion in revenue by 2020, up from an estimated $15 billion in 2011. In Nigeria, ownership of smart phones is increasing and the demand for new apps is exploding.

 The revenue that is accruing for mobile apps. developers is enormous. Big brands in Nigeria are contracting the development of branded mobile applications to individuals and small companies for large amounts of money. While growth for this explosive industry is expected to continue at a rapid pace, it has already created tremendous opportunities for animators. 

So, how much is an animator working in the apps arena expected to earn? According to an Apple app. store news release, app developers earned $20 billion in 2016, up 40 percent from 2015. Since animators, apart from programmers, play large roles in developing mobile applications, they share a big chunk in the earnings.

Architectural Animation

Architectural animation involves a short architectural movie created on a computer. A computer-generated building is created along with landscaping and sometimes moving people and vehicles.

Architectural animation is considered to have a bright future ahead of it since more and more architects and real estate developers are including computer animations in their services.

Commercial demand for computer-generated rendering is on the rise. Architectural models that are produced with animations are helping designers and clients to appreciate the complexity and physical details of big projects. The animations and renderings are usually supplied by small animation studios.

Instructional Animation

One of the biggest industries in the world now is education. There is a great demand for more creative techniques  to help convey knowledge to different categories of people.  Animation is helping students to develop more interest in learning.  In Nigeria, there is scarcity of locally-made educational animation products. The existing materials are majorly foreign. Hence a window of opportunity is open to Nigeria-based animators to produce instructional animation with local content. 

About the writer

Dele Sofela, an alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, is the Director, Nigeria Skill Acquisition for Sustainability Program-a brainchild of Myquota Resources."

He is an avid reader and keen observer of the goings on in the economic landscape of Nigeria and the world. He did a stint in Journalism, working as a member of the Press Crew of the Former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola. He worked with an environmental auditing  firm and a pharmaceutical company before starting his own business.