Ghana government urged to financially support Arts and Culture

Mr Chris Addy Nayo, ACP cultures plus Culture Policy Project Team Leader has urged government to introduce relevant polices and provide the necessary funding to help the culture sector grow and attract more foreign exchange.

The culture expert expressed optimism that giving meaning to the role of arts and culture manifested in traditional music, dance, clothing and drama can earn the country billions of dollars to spur growth and create jobs.

The seminar brought together Culture and Arts stakeholders from across the West African sub-region and the Caribbean to review a study research and share experiences and best practises from different actors.

The meeting forms part of a project being implemented by the Centre for Cultural and African Studies of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The project is titled – “Facilitating the development and growth of the culture and arts sector under the EU-ECOWAS economic partnership agreement.”

The organization said culture is a powerful tool for poverty eradication, helping to meet the ambitious goal to reduce the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day to three per cent of the population by 2030.

In spite of the sectors significant  contribution, Mr Nayo said: “governments have been paying lip service to the cultural sector, but it is very important governments see the cultural sector the same way as they see agriculture, mining and industry to come out with relevant policies,”

He explained that the sector was similar to a raw material that government needs to invest money into  to get value, the same way it pumps into other sectors including crude.

“If you are investing in the mines to get value out of it or crude oil or oil ore to get value, you should also similarly invest in the cultural sector to get value, so governments should come out with relevant policies as well as provide funding to grow the sector.”

He said formulation of the right policies and provision of the necessary funding would go a long way to improve quality, packaging and standardization of the Ghanaian culture and creative arts to attract huge market.

“Our culture is rich, very rich more than some of these foreign products that we tend to consume.

“The only difference is that they are able to package theirs in a much quality way which attracts us, so to respond to these challenges is to also package our culture in such a way that it will be more attractive in terms of its ability to attract foreigners.”

“Actors must be supported with training, provide opportunities for them to collaborate with international partner organisations so that they can come out with more quality products,Mr Nayo said.

But the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs Dzifa Gomeshie expressed worry that certain bills meant to chart a policy direction have often been stalled due to delays by some legislators who question it “too much”.