• A new NECLive report surveyed 377 Nigerian creative professionals across eight sectors, from music and film to fashion, design and gaming.
• The report says 83% of respondents lose at least 10% of their productive week to administrative work, while 53.6% lose more than a quarter.
• Payment disputes are not a side issue: 51% of respondents identified them as a friction point when they work with other people.
Nigerian creatives are not only fighting for ideas, audiences and opportunities. A new report suggests a lot of their week disappears into the work around the work: chasing an invoice, finding a reliable vendor, confirming a location, settling a collaborator or trying to make a client respond.
A video shoot can begin with a call sheet and end with someone still asking when they will be paid. A designer can finish the clothes, but still spend hours sourcing materials, arranging delivery and following up on a balance. A producer can make the track, then get stuck in the business of getting everybody else to do their own part.
The work nobody puts in the credits
The State of Nigeria’s Creative Economy 2026, released by NECLive, spoke to 377 professionals working across advertising and marketing, digital content creation, film and video, music and audio, technology and gaming, design, fashion and other creative fields. Its biggest message is simple: talent is being asked to carry too much of the back office.
The report says 83% of respondents lose at least 10% of their productive time each week to non-creative administration. More than half, 53.6%, say it takes away over a quarter of their time. That is not a small annoyance when your income depends on turning up with a camera, a sketchbook, a laptop, an edit or a finished song.
It is tempting to treat that as the normal price of freelancing. But the survey gives it a sharper name: an “administration tax”. In a sector where people are often paid per project, every hour spent chasing a deposit is an hour not spent making another pitch, learning a tool or doing the work that brings the next client.
Chasing money changes the job
The line that will feel familiar to many creators is the one about payments. Fifty-one per cent of respondents identified payment disputes as a friction point in collaborations. The report also places opaque payment systems and delayed royalties among the biggest sources of waste in creative production.
That is how a simple job becomes a chain of unpaid labour. Someone has to remind a brand about an invoice. Someone has to ask whether the agreed transport money is coming. Someone has to call the editor, the stylist, the studio, the talent or the person who said, “I will send it this evening.” The creative person often becomes the project manager, debt collector and customer-care desk at the same time.
This is bigger than a complaint about late pay. It affects who can afford to keep saying yes to creative work. A freelancer with savings may be able to wait for a client to clear an invoice. Someone without that cushion may take the next low-paying job simply because it pays today.
Funding is not the only thing creatives need
Conversations about Nigeria’s creative economy usually move quickly to grants, investment and global visibility. Those matter. But the report is a reminder that more money will not automatically fix a system that makes people waste their working day on logistics and follow-ups.
Clear contracts, staged payments, agreed revision limits and realistic production budgets are not boring extras. They are the things that make it possible for a photographer, filmmaker, designer, gamer or creator to spend more time on the thing they are actually known for.
There is also a difference between a client who needs time and a client who refuses to communicate. A message explaining a delay will not pay a crew, but it lets people plan. Silence makes every project feel like a gamble.
The business behind the vibe
Nigeria’s creative output is already visible everywhere: in songs on playlists, fashion launches, YouTube channels, small studios, games and the internet moments people share for free. The less glamorous side is that somebody has to organise the money, rights, paperwork, power, equipment and movement that keeps all of that going.
The report does not say that creative people should stop creating or become accountants. It says the systems around the work need to stop punishing the people who make it.
Because the next big Nigerian idea may not be delayed by a lack of talent. It may be delayed by a creator still waiting for last month’s payment.
Also read: Can Men’s Fashion Week Nigeria turn Lagos style into a business for local designers?
Also read: Google picked six Nigerian news creators for its AI Lab. Why owning the audience is the real prize
What is the one non-creative task that steals the most time from your work? Tell us in the comments.
