The U.K. has just announced that the pandemic-ravaged music sector will receive a much-needed infusion as part of a £1.57 billion ($1.96 billion) rescue package for the arts announced by the government on Sunday.

This has come amidst celebrities in Ghana crying out for the government to intervene in the situation that has been forced on them by the Coronavirus. More and more governments are starting to see the need to bolster their entertainment sectors with external financial stimulus while the Ghanaian government still sits on the sidelines.

Artistes like Opanka, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, and the likes have all given cogent reasons to keep the entertainment sector alive during this most dreaded period.

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“There is so much JOB to be made around even the Creative Arts"- Stonebwoy

Stonebwoy, in particular, had a sit down with Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in a live Instagram session, urging the government to support the Creative Arts Industry if the country’s current crop of artistes does not want to end up like their predecessors

"We are hungry and the COVID-19 has also exposed how vulnerable we are as creatives. We cannot go anywhere and the shows that we benefit from albeit not regularly are not coming so things have been difficult. We have seen our predecessors and we will not want to end up like them. You see their photos and you get scared that if care is not taken and the right systems are not put in place, we will end up like them,” he lamented.

Thousands of organizations in live music, performing arts and theaters, museums, galleries, and independent cinema, will be able to access emergency grants and loans that the U.K. will provide. The government, which described the funding as the “biggest ever one-off investment in U.K. culture,” says the emergency package will help cultural and heritage organizations stay afloat while their doors are closed due to the virus outbreak.

The live music sector will draw its share from a £1.15 billion ($1.4 billion) support pot for cultural organizations in England to be delivered through a mix of grants and loans. The pot will be made up of £270 million in repayable loans and £880 million in grants, the government says.

The funding will also target employment, including freelancers in the music industry. More than 350,000 people in the recreation and leisure sector have been furloughed since the pandemic began. (The U.K. live music sector supports 210,000 jobs.)