Nigeria

Visas & Work Permits

Most nationals require a visa to enter Nigeria. Please allow plenty of lead time.

Temporary Work Permits are required for larger projects such as commercials, television shows or feature films. The sponsoring Nigerian fixer or service producer submits the application and fee to the immigration office, in Abuja or Lagos. It usually takes about ten days to have this approved. Once approved, the approval is then sent to the applicant’s closest Nigerian embassy or consulate, where the applicant’s passport is stamped with the Temporary Work Permit. This final stage usually takes around four days.

Please contact a local embassy, consulate or representative for more information. Alternatively, there are specialist companies that provide visa and immigration support to the media industry who may be able to assist.

Film Location Permits

A film location permit from the Nigerian Film Corporation is required to film in Nigeria. The permit covers any type of production for up to a week of filming and is processed within three days.

More lead time is required for larger productions, such as shoots that involve traffic control or large set-ups.

Projects shooting outside of Lagos or Abuja will need to involve a local fixer or producer, to arrange permits in person on a local level. Therefore, allow extra time and money for that.

Filming in sensitive government areas, national parks, historic sites or with drones may also require extra permits. The process of applying for these permits is complicated and thoroughly scrutinised, and can take several weeks for approval.

Please note that illegal filming of certain government buildings and public infrastructure, such as airports, bridges and military installations, may be penalised with arrest, fines and confiscation of film equipment.

Customs

For productions looking to bring in film equipment, Nigeria is not an ATA carnet country.

Film equipment is owned by different local production companies and they rent from each other when necessary.

Nigeria has all of the standard camera, grip and lighting equipment available locally. However, more specialised equipment needs to be brought in from abroad.

When importing a large amount of equipment, a local Nigerian customs broker will need to be hired to arrange a re-importation license. Customs will issue an importation tax of 5% on the value of the equipment. It is important to make sure gear is well insured.

When to Film

Nigeria has a tropical climate with variances in different regions.

The dry season runs from October to April. The end of the dry season is the best time to film wildlife with animals congregating around water sources. May to September is the wet season. It is best to avoid the heaviest rains from April to July, as roads outside of cities become impassable.

In terms of religion, Muslims dominate the north of the country and Christians dominate the south.

Public Holidays

Public holidays may affect timing, availability and costs. See here for public holiday dates in Nigeria.

The favourable exchange rate means that Western currencies go far in Nigeria.

The standard VAT rate in Nigeria at the time of writing is set at 7.5%.

Incentives

At the time of writing, this country does not have any filming incentives. However, up to date information on global filming incentives may be found on the Entertainment Partners' Production Incentives Map.

At the time of writing, the UK does not have a trade agreement with this country. However, up to date information about UK trade agreements can be found on the GOV.UK website.