May 8, 2024
Ghana‘s Minister Designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Andrew Egyapa Mercer has opined that the sector can be a major revenue generator in the country. He made these comments when he met the Creative Arts Practitioners in Kumasi on Wednesday 8th May 2024 at the Quarshie Idun Hall, Cultural Centre in Kumasi.
This gathering formed part of the ongoing engagements with stakeholders in the sector initiated by Hon. Mercer. While engaging all and sundry, Hon. Egyapa Mercer seized the opportunity to share his vision, as well as brief the gathering on the state of the sector from the Ministry’s perspective and to also hear from them their perspectives on core issues.
The Minister underscored that the sector has a real potential to be a major revenue generator for the country and noted that there was data to back this opinion. He also said he had observed that over the years, there had been an emphasis on attracting tourists and visitors to Ghana. “Foreigners are enticed to come to Ghana through music, film, art, and other forms of Ghanaian cultural expressions”, he said. “Accordingly, the right level of attention ought to be given to creative arts if tourism will continue to thrive,” he added.
Concerning the Arts and Culture space, he indicated that the construction of amphitheatres in Kumasi, Accra and Sekondi has been delayed due to funding constraints. He added that engagements with the Ministry of Finance are ongoing towards securing the needed funds to complete the projects before December 2024. He stressed that, though incomplete, the vision to put up the amphitheatres is a testament and a foretaste of the Government’s good intentions and plans for the creative arts industry in Ghana. He expressed his commitment to ensuring that stalled infrastructure projects in the creative arts are revived and completed.
Members of the association shared their concerns, asked questions, made suggestions and sought clarifications on matters that were of interest to them. Hon. Mercer reassured the gathering of his openness to engaging industry players on any issue of concern and his commitment to addressing the same.
Present at the meeting were members of various associations within the creative arts space, film directors and producers, music producers, artists, dancers etc.
Inspection of Kwadaso Creative Arts School Project
In a related development to ensure adequate facilities in the creative arts space, the Minister-Designate for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Andrew Egyapa Mercer paid a working visit to the Creative Arts School project site located at Kwadaso in the Ashanti Region on the same day.
Accompanied by his Deputy, Hon. Mark Okraku Mantey, Hon. Mercer shared with members of the media present, the impact the project would make in the sector upon completion.
The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) sponsored project is intended to be the first of such institutions in the Ashanti Region with ultra-modern facilities which include a 2000-seat capacity theatre, a mini amphitheatre, male and female dormitories, a library, lecture halls and a hospital. Although the project is under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, its purpose has a direct bearing on the development of the creative arts industry in Ghana which falls squarely under the purview of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
Noting that the project since 2019 has stalled, Hon. Mercer interacted with the project supervisor at the site, to ascertain first-hand information regarding the status of construction works and the challenges on the ground. The feedback the supervisor received will enable him to engage the Ministry of Education and the GETFund to expedite action on the completion of the project.
