The movie industry globally is a multi-billion dollar industry. Hollywood is the flagship of this industry and has been a cease pool of some of the greatest masterpieces of all time. It has some of the oldest production studios, with some having been in the business for over 75 years. Other movie markets have been producing good movies as well; such as the Bollywood movie industry of India and the Nigerian Nollywood African movie industry. The African movies however seem to exhibit the fastest growth in the industry right now. 

The African movie industry is the fastest growing movie industry with statistics indicating that on any given day, an African movie is being released somewhere on the African continent. This means that Africa is producing a minimum of 366 movies a year on a conservative estimate, with countries like Nigeria alone surpassing that benchmark. Even though most movie productions in Nigeria are not of very high quality and are created specifically for the local audience which is growing in leaps and bounds, It might therefore not attract an international audience.

However, the African movie industry has not always been like how it is today. The industry was literally on its knees in the 1980s and 1990s. This was because the local media houses preferred international programs to locally produced programs. This made it almost impossible to get an audience, even if the film was good. However, this has changed significantly through out the African continent. More and more TV stations are taking a pro-active approach to supporting local programs. This has in turn encouraged the African movie makers to produce more movies. 

As the situation currently stands right now, the industry has still not reached its full potential. The Industry players claim that we have not even scratched the surface yet. We have more productions being done on a daily bases and we are now getting the necessary exposure through local media. Having seen the potential opportunities, a lot of international production houses now want a piece of the action as well. 

The beauty of an infant industry is that it presents some unique opportunities. There is much to learn about the techniques required to make a good movie. Sometimes it is not about the size of the budget of the movie, but rather what one does with the available budget and resources. Any production house that can produce high quality products will definitely set itself to be a leader in the industry. 

As a young growing industry, the market presents some unique challenges as well. Funding is one of the most challenging issues in making a good African movie. A lot of the movie productions are done on a meager budget and consequently, the quality is often compromised. There is also a lot of challenges in the area of actual high level post production technical expertise. Most of the producers of African movies are still new to the business and learning on the job and therefore can't produce very high quality work initially. 

Another major area of the African movie industry that is challenging is the distribution part of the business. This is one of the greatest advantages that Hollywood has over all the other movie industries, global distribution. The lack of an efficient and large distribution network makes it such that even if a great African movie is produced, it struggles to reach a large number of people around the world. 

The market for African movies is definitely growing by the day. If the current challenges in funding and distribution are addressed, the movies may be able to reach more people and have a greater impact.