Lifting the creative sector in Ghana to unprecedented levels

The creative sector is essential for enhancing cultures and forming national identities, even beyond the realm of commerce.

In a country with a rich cultural past, supporting the creative industry not only ensures economic prosperity but also honors it.

The moment has come to recognize the economic power of art and culture and to implement policies that support their growth, as Ghana prepares for a new era with the incoming administration in 2025.

1. Economic contribution of art and culture:

Through promoting employment development, export revenue, and tourism, art and culture act as catalysts for economic growth. Ghana's cultural tourist industry, driven by lively festivals, music, dance, and handicrafts, creates jobs in addition to revenue. Ghana's exports of cultural goods, such as music, movies, books, and handicrafts, increase foreign exchange profits and improve the country's reputation abroad. A diversified workforce, including artists, artisans, performers, designers, and entrepreneurs, can make a living in the creative economy, which contributes to inclusive growth and the reduction of poverty.

2. Soft power and nation branding:

Ghana's global image is shaped by the use of art and culture as tools for soft power projection and nation branding. Ghana's rich cultural heritage, which is weaved together by traditional customs, music, dance, and culinary skills, promotes pride in the country. Ghana has the potential to draw foreign investment, cultivate international alliances, and strengthen diplomatic relations by showcasing its cultural richness and inventiveness.

3. Social cohesion and well-being:

Beyond the financial benefits, culture and the arts provide social cohesiveness and a sense of community and belonging. Engaging in cultural pursuits and artistic endeavors enhances personal welfare, psychological state, and general standard of living.

4. Challenges and Opportunities:

Notwithstanding the significant contributions made by Ghana's creative sector, obstacles including poor infrastructure, a lack of finance, piracy, and red tape continue to exist. But these challenges also offer chances for creativity, cooperation, and legislative changes. Ghana can strengthen the resilience and competitiveness of its creative sector by embracing digital innovations, improving skill development, and guaranteeing financial accessibility.

5. Policy recommendations for the new government:

The creation of a strong framework for cultural policy that recognises the importance of art and culture on the social and economic fronts should be a top priority for the next government in 2025.

To support the creation, display, and conservation of cultural assets, invest in cultural infrastructure, such as museums, theaters, galleries, and cultural hubs. Encourage artists, cultural entrepreneurs, and creative businesses via grants, financial incentives, and tax breaks.

To prevent piracy and protect the rights of artists and inventors, enforce intellectual property rights more strictly. Encourage partnerships amongst the public, business, civil society, and academic sectors to advance innovation, skill development, and information sharing in the creative disciplines.

The population's engagement in culture is a significant component of the ecosystem that impedes the expansion of the sector determined to transform the status quo in Africa's fields of cultural heritage and art preservation.

Engaging in cultural activities offers numerous advantages that are not fully recognized, such as promoting social inclusion, improving health and well-being, developing skills, and fostering entrepreneurship. In order to solve societal difficulties, it can also encourage behavior change.

Countries that spend more on culture have higher rates of cultural participation, which is probably a positive feedback loop. However, two-thirds of people indicate that they do not actively participate in cultural activities (artistic pursuits) in various parts of Africa, including Ghana.

Broaden the scope of the policy approach to cultural participation

The policy rationale for public spending in culture, and for the development of cultural participation, generally tends to be narrowly focused on support for culture as a merit good. However, cultural participation may have important implications for health and well-being, innovation, social cohesion, and even responsible environmental behaviours.

 This implies that the policy approach to cultural participation could evolve to broaden in scope. Cultural participation should be considered relevant in all other policy contexts where cultural participation brings about major effects: e.g. health, social change, research and innovation, environment and climate, and education, among others.

For cultural participation to be viewed as a vehicle to achieve multiple policy goals, timely, systematic, comprehensive and consistent statistical frameworks are needed.

This data would help to underpin measurement and the evaluation of policy actions on cultural participation. Promoting the development of such a framework, in collaboration with national statistical institutes and other relevant institutions collecting and analyzing statistical data at various territorial scales and capacities, is one of the most pressing needs to further this agenda. Promoting this at an international scale is also very valuable for benchmarking and learning.

Create new collaborations between cultural and non-cultural institutions

Given the promise of culture-driven crossovers with high potential for social and economic impact, it is important to create the conditions for them to unfold. To make this happen, there is a need to break old silos and build bridges between different disciplinary and professional spheres.

New collaborations between cultural and non-cultural institutions can help in innovating, experimenting and implementing crossover projects (e.g. between museums or theatres and hospitals, between orchestras and educational institutions, or between independent art spaces and urban planners, etc.)

Both parties must prepare carefully for this new debate. In order to create mutual respect and understanding, foster trust, and advance professional abilities with bridging roles, pilot programs can be started. Such pilot project monitoring and evaluation will be critical for gaining knowledge and developing the body of data needed to support more comprehensive policy actions.

The cultural industries are playing a bigger role in today's knowledge-based society and modern economy because of its enriching effects on development. The cultural sector has both non-economic and economic effects. The integration of marginalized groups and social cohesiveness are two areas where cultural industries have non-economic effects on social development.The creative industry in Ghana is well-positioned to drive prosperity and sustainable development.

The incoming government in 2025 can unleash the full potential of Ghana's creative industries and establish the country as a global cultural beacon by acknowledging the economic power of art and culture and implementing policies that support it. As an African proverb wisely says, "When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you." Allow Ghana to develop her artistic soul, balance her advantages, and set herself up for global creative leadership.