Virtual Cinema Delivers Economic Relief, Reshapes Nollywood’s Welfare Structure

Oluchi Chibuzor

Africa’s fast-rising virtual cinema platform, Circuits, has sparked a new economic conversation in Nollywood after revealing a welfare intervention that delivers monthly pay for life and comprehensive health insurance to ageing screen icons.

The initiative, the company said, is aimed at correcting decades of financial injustice in Nigeria’s multi-billion-naira film sector.

Speaking at a roundtable with senior journalists in Lagos, Chief Operating Officer of Circuits, Mrs Imade Bibowei-Osuobeni, said the pension-style support for three industry pioneers, Chief Pete Edochie, Idowu Philips (Iya Rainbow) and Chief Lere Paimo, signals a structural shift in how African cinema accounts for those who built its cultural and commercial value but grew old without institutional protection.

She said, “This is not charity, it is an economic responsibility. The men and women who built Nollywood’s cultural wealth deserve lifetime dignity, not abandonment. We designed the Film Veterans’ Dignity Fund to correct a long-standing economic injustice in the creative industry.”

Bibowei-Osuobeni described the Fund as the first private-sector, recurring welfare mechanism in Nollywood’s history, specifically for veterans about 70 years with a life time approach- not one off. “For years, the industry depended on informal structures. Contracts were weak, royalties were inconsistent, and piracy wiped out incomes,” Bibowei-Osuobeni said. “We believe the new economy must honour the old creators and create a sustainable economic pathway for the new.”

She added that the fund will scale in phases, with more veterans joining in the coming months as partnerships deepen. “No Nollywood trailblazer should grow old in financial distress,” she said. Bibowei-Osuobeni said Circuits’ broader strategy is to position African cinema as a platform for economic growth, job creation and global market expansion.

She described Circuits as “Africa’s first true pan-african virtual cinema scheduled, pay-per-view, and designed to protect intellectual property while expanding revenue channels for filmmakers. With content library from Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia etc, we have shown that we are a truly Pan-African company. “Films premiere on the platform at specific times, mirroring the experience of physical cinema attendance.  When you buy a film on Circuits, you are paying for a scheduled seat, not random access,” she said. “That ensures creators receive real-time, measurable income.”

She noted that the platform’s limited-release model, in which films remain available only for a set period, has increased scarcity value and improved yield for producers.

She said the rollout begins in January, with projections that thousands of young people across participating states will enter creative and technical employment pipelines.

In December, Circuits will debut its most ambitious distribution experiment, working with its theatrical distribution partner, Blue Pictures: a community cinema model for Agesinkole: King of Thieves Part 2. The platform also secured  rights to reintroduce the blockbuster after the part one sold hundreds of thousands of tickets in the cinemas when it released.