Nigerian mogul Ben Murray-Bruce’s Silverbird seals deal to build West Africa’s largest film studio

Omokolade Ajayi -

Silverbird Group, a leading multimedia company founded by Nigerian media mogul Ben Murray-Bruce, has signed a deal with Afreximbank, an African import-export bank led by Benedict Oramah, to build West Africa’s largest recorded film and TV studio.

The Ben Murray-Bruce Studios and Film Academy (BMB Studios and Film Academy), a complex that will house a comprehensive studio alongside an educational institution, will be created as a result of the deal, which was closed on the fringes of the Africa Investment Forum, the continent’s premier investment platform. The platform has attracted $31 billion in investment interest from African and international investors.

When completed, the project will drive significant productions to Nigeria, improve the skills of local talent, and attract international talent, providing a significant boost to the film and television industries in Nigeria and across the region.

The 32,725-square-meter facility in Nigeria’s International Commerce City, Eko Atlantic City, will include two large sound stages, a digital hub with music and broadcast studios, editing bays with multiple suites, production offices, screening rooms, and a large studio backlot for outdoor sets.

The educational institution that will be established as a result of the collaboration with Afreximbank will provide a platform for local and international students to develop skills in cinematography, directing, filmmaking, gaming, music, post-production techniques, production, screenwriting, VFX, and animation.

Ben Murray-Bruce, Silverbird Group’s founder, revealed that when completed, the studio’s technical infrastructure will be the most advanced in West Africa, designed to handle the large bandwidth demands of media businesses, and its arrival will create an environment where content can be produced, managed, and distributed digitally.

Silverbird Group is a multimedia conglomerate with interests in radio, television, real estate, and cinemas.

As a pioneer in innovation, it established itself as a trailblazer by constructing the Silverbird Galleria, Nigeria’s first international standard mall, and Cineplex. With Silverbird’s Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) brand, which produced the first and only black African Miss World in 2001, the company also gained an international reputation.