Barbara Oteng-Gyasi
As part of its efforts to revamp the image of the creative industry in the country, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has promised to create a digital platform to promote and market the works of Ghanaian artistes on the global market.
This was revealed by the Acting Director of the National Folklore Board, Nana Adjoa Adobea Asante, during the NPP’s 2020 manifesto launch last Saturday in Cape Coast.
Ms. Asante said, “We will build a digital platform for artistes to make their products available for the global market,” adding that the government will also implement a number of projects to improve the creative industry in order to attract more investors.
“We will pursue the construction of modern large seating theatres in every regional capital except Accra, beginning with Takoradi, Tamale, and Kumasi.”
She added that the NPP government would set up an additional Copyright Office in Tamale to cater for the northern sector in addition to the existing ones in Accra and Kumasi.
The party made mention of the full implementations of the Copyright Court, and how it intends to put in checks for copyright infringement cases as far as the creative industry is concerned and also for the industry to have an independent court.
Also in its quest to improve creative arts in a long run, the government, in its manifesto, planned to set up the Creative Arts Senior High School.
It also promises to transform the Ghana Tourist Authority (GTA) into a modern and more efficient institution by investing in tourism IT as an enabler to improve knowledge and sharing of information about tourism opportunities in the country.
The NPP government in its manifesto planned to partner the private sector to set up a state-of-the-art hospitality teaching facility, with an operational hotel, classrooms, kitchens, library and dormitories.
It will also establish a revenue-sharing programme to inject 5% of tourism revenues into the local communities to encourage them to take ownership of, and be invested in their sustainability.
Other promises made by the party included the setting up the Creative Arts Fund among others.
By George Clifford Owusu