Who are Nollywood’s 10 highest paid actresses?

A Nigerian actress who gets more (lower budget) movie roles can still rival those who star in few higher budget movies in Nollywood. Statistics show that fame might not necessarily mean larger funds in the bank. Two of the best paid actresses in Nollywood are no doubt, Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde. Nollywood fans, bloggers, […]

A Nigerian actress who gets more (lower budget) movie roles can still rival those who star in few higher budget movies in Nollywood. Statistics show that fame might not necessarily mean larger funds in the bank.
Two of the best paid actresses in Nollywood are no doubt, Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde. Nollywood fans, bloggers, and media out-lets, often compare the two beautiful actresses, especially in terms of fame and wealth. It appears the comparison began when Omotola and Genevieve played a remarkable role as sisters in the top-selling Nollywood movie ‘Blood Sisters.’ Both actresses were paid handsomely for their performance in the hit movie.
Another hit movie that paired both actresses again is the award-winning Nollywood international movie ‘IJE – The Journey,’ which grossed N47 million from six cinemas across Nigeria. The Nigeria Movie Network team gathered from sources Omotola and Genevieve were paid roughly N5 million naira each to be stars of the movie.
Currently, Genevieve and Omotola are the most expensive actresses to hire for professional interpretation of scripts. These two ace actresses are said to charge between N2 million to N10 million on average, to feature in a Nollywood movie.
Gone are the days when Nollywood producers could hire Omotola and Genevieve for lead roles for as little as N500,000. It is estimated that Genevieve and Omotola are worth well over N200 million. This rough estimates put into consideration the number of films both actresses have starred in over the years, their international features in the US/UK, endorsements and so forth.
Below is an updated list of how much Nollywood actresses are paid per movie script (estimates):
Genevieve Nnaji: Paid between an estimated N3 million-4.5 million per movie script.
Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde: Paid between an estimated N3 million-4 million per movie script.
Stephanie Okereke: Paid between an estimated N2.5–N3.5 million per movie script.
Mercy Johnson: Paid between an estimated N1.5–N5 million per movie script.
Chioma Akpotha: Paid between an estimated N1 million-N1.5 million per movie script.
Chika Ike: Paid between an estimated N1 million-N1.5 million per movie script.
Ini Edo: Paid between an estimated N800, 000-N1.5 million per movie script.
Patience Ozokwor: Paid between an estimated N850,000-N1.5million per movie script.
Rita Dominic: Paid between an estimated N800, 000-N1.5 million per movie script.
Funke Akindele: Paid between an estimated N750, 000-N1.5 million per movie script.
Although this article targets 10 of the highest and best paid Nollywood actresses in Nigeria, it also includes that of controversial Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh as a bonus. Dikeh is estimated to be paid around N500, 000-N1million per movie script.
If 2,000 movies are produced in Nollywood annually with each of the actresses mentioned above starring in at least 40 per year on average, if paid N1million on average for each movie, then each actress is estimated to bag at least N40 million per year from Nollywood, not counting their various endorsements or individual businesses.
Genevieve and Omotola are estimated to be worth between N200 million to N400 million, considering their international endorsements.