Nigeria’s creatives lose half their workweek to admin, payment delays, report finds

Nearly one in five Nigerian creative professionals spend more than half of their weekly working time on non-creative administrative tasks, limiting the time available for actual creative work, according to a new report by NECLive.

The findings were contained in The State of Nigeria’s Creative Economy 2026 report, which examined the experiences of 377 creative professionals across eight sectors and identified the structural challenges limiting the growth of Nigeria’s creative economy.

The report found that 19.6% of respondents lose more than 50% of their weekly working time to administrative responsibilities, meaning about one in five creative professionals spend more time handling non-creative tasks than producing creative work.

It also found that 83% of respondents lose at least 10% of their productive time every week to non-creative administration, while 53.6% lose more than a quarter of their working time to such activities.

What the data is saying

The respondents surveyed comprised professionals working across advertising and marketing, digital content creation and influencing, film and video, music and audio, technology and gaming, design, fashion and other creative subsectors.

• The survey found that 34% of respondents lose between 26% and 50% of their weekly productive time to non-creative tasks, while another 30% lose between 10% and 25%. A further 24% said they lose more than 50% of their productive time, leaving only 17% who lose less than 10%.
• The report described this as an “administration tax” on Nigeria’s creative economy, noting that routine tasks such as logistics, sourcing and chasing payments consume productive hours that could otherwise be spent on creative output.
• “More than one in five creative professionals spends more time on administration than on creative output,” the report stated.

According to the report, the problem reflects the absence of reliable financial infrastructure and legal frameworks that are more developed in mature creative markets.

The report further argued that if Nigeria’s creative sector could recover even half of the time currently lost to administration, productive output could potentially double without requiring additional hiring or funding.

Payment delays add to productivity losses

Beyond general administrative responsibilities, payment-related issues emerged as another major source of lost productive time for Nigerian creatives.

The report identified chasing payments as one of the key non-creative tasks taking time away from creative work, with respondents pointing to payment disputes and delayed compensation as persistent problems within the sector.

• The report also found that 51% of respondents identified payment disputes as a collaboration friction point, highlighting what it described as a systemic trust deficit within the creative economy.

Payment problems also contribute to production losses. Respondents ranked opaque payment systems or delayed royalties as the third-largest source of waste in creative production, after unexpected on-site costs and equipment breakdowns or supply-chain delays.

The findings suggest that the productivity challenge facing Nigerian creatives extends beyond access to capital or equipment, with inefficient administrative and payment systems reducing the amount of time and resources that can be directed towards production.

What you should know

Although Nigeria’s creative economy employs an estimated 4.2 million people, according to data from the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism & The Creative Economy, the sector continues to operate amid infrastructure and productivity challenges that limit the amount of time available for productive work.

Nigeria’s electricity access deficit remains one of these challenges, with an estimated 90 million people lacking access to electricity, representing roughly 40% to 42% of the population.

• The situation has forced millions of Nigerians and businesses, including those in the creative industry, to rely on self-generated electricity through petrol and diesel generators or invest in solar energy systems, which often require significant upfront installation costs amid persistently high fuel prices.
• Beyond electricity, the wider transport infrastructure also contributes to the productivity challenge facing Nigerian workers. Lagos commuters spend an average of 2.2 to six hours daily in traffic, losing roughly 30 hours every week to gridlock, according to a report on the city’s traffic burden.
• The report estimates that congestion in Lagos results in a productivity loss of more than 14 million hours every day, with the associated economic cost running into trillions of naira annually.

Nairametrics recently reported that Lagos was ranked the world’s most congested city in the 2025 Mid-Year Traffic Index, leaving other notorious traffic-heavy cities such as Los Angeles, Delhi, and San Jose behind.

For creative professionals, who already lose significant portions of their working week to administration, the time spent navigating Lagos traffic can further reduce the hours available for creative production, client meetings, sourcing equipment and other income-generating activities.