IMAX Corporation and Filmhouse Cinemas, Nigeria’s largest chain of theatres, announced an agreement for an IMAX theatre to be located in a new construction project in Lagos, the nation’s biggest city with a population of more than 20 million. The deal, announced at CineEurope, marks the first-ever IMAX agreement in Nigeria and West Africa. Nigeria now ranks as Africa’s largest economy. The agreement also underscores the company’s continued expansion in Africa, where in the past year IMAX signed its first-ever deal in Angola and added four new theatres to its network in South Africa.
“Our mission is to establish the best movie-going experience in Nigeria. IMAX will help us realise this goal by delivering an immersive and differentiated experience previously unavailable to Nigerian moviegoers,” said Kene Mkparu, CEO, Filmhouse Cinemas. “As we continue our aggressive expansion plans, IMAX will serve as an anchor attraction in our multiplex in Lagos, redefining the premium cinema experience in Nigeria. We are proud to be the first to introduce IMAX in the country and look forward to broadening its reach.”
“We are delighted to join forces with Filmhouse Cinemas and enter Nigeria, which represents a key strategic move for our expansion in Africa. Recent reports project that Nigeria’s entertainment and media revenues will reach an estimated $8.5 billion by 2018 – more than doubling from 2013,” said Andrew Cripps, President, IMAX EMEA.”As the biggest economy on the continent and a market that is extremely under-screened, we believe that together with Filmhouse we can seize the mutual growth opportunities that exist in Nigeria and bring the world’s most immersive cinematic experience to more audiences across the country.”