Good quality is expensive, and this is the case for Editi Effiong’s much anticipated Netflix movie, The Black Book. With a staggering budget of one million dollars, Nollywood is set to record a one of a kind movie expenditure, making it the largest amount ever spent on a Nollywood production.
However, this budget wouldn’t have been possible without the investment backing of some of Nigeria’s high profile individuals. From high-tech profiles to Nollywood greats, we bring you the investors behind the million dollar movie.
Editi Effiong
Executive producer of The Black Book, Editi Effiong is also the founder of Anakle Films and Anakle Limited. He’s a creative entrepreneur with an interest in digital advertising, technology and film. He assumed the role of a director in the making of “The Black Book”.
Kola Oyeneyin
Kola Oyeneyin is an entrepreneur and activist from Nigeria. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Venia Group, a venture development and creation firm listed on the London Stock Exchange. He is also a co-founder and partner at Volition Blue LLC and Volition Capital, a private equity firm.
Kola is well-known for his social activism and his commitment to Nigeria. Then, he established GenVoices, an organisation designed to educate young people for political participation. In Nigeria, GenVoices had over 49 chapters and was globally endorsed by the United Nations.
Uyai Umoren Effiong
Uyai is a former engineer who is now a business consultant with a keen interest in how human-centered design can alter the manner in which businesses serve their consumers.
Up North (2018), The Set Up (2019), and Days of Destiny (2021) were also co-produced by Uyai.
Ezra Olubi
Ezra Olubi is a Nigerian entrepreneur and the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of PayStack, which was acquired by Stripe in 2020 for $200 million, making it the most successful departure in the history of Africa’s technology industry.
He is known as one of the pioneers of the online payment system in Nigeria and is now a significant player in Nigeria’s technology sector; he was recently awarded a national honour.
Bienose Tito Ovia
Tito Ovia is a public health enthusiast with a passion for enhancing the standard of medical care in Africa. She was a co-founder of Helium Health and is also the daughter of Zenith Bank’s chairman, Jim Ovia.
Odunayo Eweniyi
Odunayo Eweniyi, co-founder and chief operating officer of PiggyVest, is a Nigerian executive and activist. Additionally, she is the founder and a partner of FirstCheck Africa.
Adesubomi Plumptre
Subomi is an SEC-licensed Nigerian fund manager who co-founded Volition Capital Investment Limited, an asset management firm that assists Africans in accumulating wealth and achieving financial stability.
Established in 2018, Volition Cap has established a $30 million fund for financing real estate and agricultural initiatives in Africa.
Somto Ifezue
Somto Ifezue is the co-founder, Chief Product Engineer, and co-founder of PiggyTech and PushCV, respectively.
Gbenga Agboola
Gbenga Agboola is a software engineer and entrepreneur from Nigeria. He is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Flutterwave, an organisation dedicated to altering the payment landscape on the African continent.
Gbenga contributed to the development of fintech solutions at PayPal and Standard Bank, among other tech companies and financial institutions.
Joshua Chibueze
Joshua Chibueze is the co-founder and chief marketing officer of both PIggyVest and PushCV. Joshua is a tech entrepreneur and customer success engineer with an unconventional approach to problem-solving.
He is also a product marketing and digital strategy consultant with over ten years of experience working for multinational corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and a number of startups.
Richard Mofe Damijo
Richard Mofe Damijo, also known as RMD, is an actor, writer, and producer from Nigeria. In 2009, he was a former journalist and commissioner for culture and tourism in Delta State. He plays the lead role in “The Black Book” movie.
Toyin Adewunmi
Toyin is an HR professional with over sixteen years of progressive experience across a wide range of HR functions, such as Business Partnering, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, and HR Strategy Development.
Toyin is also a creative producer who possesses a talent for story conception. Her most recent film STRAIN awarded Best International Film at the Urban Film Festival in Miami in 2020 and Best Screenplay at the African Film Festival in Dallas in 2021.
Kola Aina
Kola Aina is a founding partner at Ventures Platform, a discovery-stage venture capital fund that supports the next generation of African entrepreneurs.
As a venture capitalist, Kola identifies and invests in startups focused on disrupting the financial services, healthcare, education, agriculture, and media industries. His current portfolio of investments consists of Mono, PiggyVest, Reliance HMO, Paystack, and The Black Book.
Oladunni Abiodun
Oladunni Abiodun is a Microsoft software engineer.
Olumide Soyombo
Bluechip Technologies was co-founded by Olumide Soyombo. Since a young age, he has been a firm believer in tech-based startups, which has garnered him investments in over 60 businesses, several of which generate millions of dollars in revenue.
Nadayar Enegesi
Nadayar is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Eden Life. Additionally, he co-founded Andela and managed its infrastructure for developer learning for five years.
Nadayar is an avid builder of technology with a passion for getting things done proficiently. He is known as a ‘angel investor,’ so it’s not surprising that he contributed to Nollywood’s largest film.
Prosper Otemuyiwa
Prosper is a great speaker, community leader, open source hacker, technical consultant, and a fervent Developer Advocate. He is a full-stack software engineer who has worked on biometric, health and developer tools.
With the increase in investors in Nollywood, the industry’s global ranking is set to improve greatly. Movies like Gangs of Lagos have already broken records as one of the most-watched non-English titles on Prime Video, and this has spurred even more adoption of Nollywood content on streaming platforms. Although, the Nigerian movie industry still has a long way to go in terms of funding, the investment backing for “The Black Book” movie shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel after all.
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