The National Coordinator for Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (IDICE), Ife Adebayo, disclosed this while delivering the keynote address at the QED Creative Presentation Summit in Lagos.

Adebayo said the model would see government provide seed capital to selected fund managers, who would then be required to raise additional private capital before investing in creative businesses and projects.

He explained that the arrangement was designed to ensure that public funding serves as a catalyst for significantly larger private-sector investment rather than becoming the sole source of capital for entrepreneurs.

According to him, the model has already been tested in Nigeria’s technology ecosystem, where one fund manager received approximately $26 million in public capital and subsequently raised an additional $64 million from private investors.

He said the fund went on to invest in businesses including logistics platform Pestcaz, Flutterwave and Big Events.

Adebayo stressed that the matching requirement applies to the fund managers and their investors, rather than individual entrepreneurs seeking funding.

This, he said, would prevent creative entrepreneurs from having to raise matching funds themselves before accessing investment.

The IDICE coordinator also disclosed that the investment framework was deliberately designed to operate over a longer period than conventional venture capital funds.

According to him, the base investment fund has a 10-year lifespan, while an associated fund-of-funds vehicle has a 15-year lifespan, with the possibility of extending it to 17 years.

He said the longer investment horizon was necessary because creative projects often require significantly more time to develop, produce, distribute and generate returns.

“For the first time, an African government is saying we’re going to be patient,” Adebayo said.

He contrasted the structure with technology investments, where startups can sometimes attract funding quickly based on scalable business models and projected growth.

In the creative industry, however, he said projects such as films could take several years to move from development and production to distribution and eventual returns for investors.

Adebayo said the patient-capital approach was therefore intended to accommodate the peculiarities of creative businesses while creating a framework capable of attracting private investment into the sector.