Nollywood filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan has said that Netflix and Amazon left Nigeria because the country’s currency, the naira, lost much of its value. This made Nigeria a less attractive place for these big streaming companies.

He spoke about this on Channels Television’s Youth Forum, where the topic was important problems that young Nigerians face. Akinmolayan explained that the current economic rules in Nigeria made it harder for streaming platforms to do business in the country.

The change happened after President Bola Tinubu ended the fuel subsidy and combined the different exchange rates into one system called the Importer and Exporter (I&E) window. This caused the naira to drop quickly in value. Akinmolayan believes this is the main reason Netflix and Amazon decided to pull out of Nigeria.

“When the big streamers pulled out—Netflix, Amazon—we, the filmmakers, just woke up to emails and were shocked,” he said. “These aren’t just random companies. The government taxes them. So how is it possible that the government wasn’t even aware of these changes? Their exit drastically changed how we now approach production.”

Before, filmmakers could earn money from these streaming services, but that source of income has now disappeared. This has made things tougher for many people working in Nollywood.

“The reason they left is largely because of the naira devaluation. It no longer made financial sense for them to continue paying licensing fees at the previous scale. And sadly, the government didn’t do anything to cushion the impact.”

Akinmolayan also said he feels disappointed because the Nigerian government has not spoken with filmmakers to understand their problems or to help the film industry grow in a way that lasts.