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The success of Sarkodie’s Rapperholic Homecoming concert in Kumasi has reignited calls for government to invest in Ghana’s creative economy, with experts saying the sector could generate millions in revenue and jobs if treated as a formal part of the economy.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show Monday (29 September), events management specialist and Vice President of the Foundation of Concern Arts Professionals, Mel Davis, said the concert demonstrated the untapped potential of the creative arts sector.
“If one weekend we can actually get a boost of over 20 million in a local economy, think about if we do this in all 16 regions,” Davis said. “It means that the local economy in every region is going to be boosted not by cocoa or gold, not by oil, but just people dancing, people being happy and making merry.”
Davis stressed that beyond the star performers, entire communities benefit: “Think about the person who is in that vicinity, who lives in Kumasi and is a taxi driver, the person who is running a hotel, the one cooking and preparing food, the sound engineers, the stage riggers. All of them got direct money into their pockets, money that will feed families and circulate back into Ghana’s economy.”
He added that the government also benefits directly from such events through ticket taxes. “If we have 20,000 people coming to the concert, and each ticket is 100 cedis, GRA is taking 28 to 29 percent of it. That alone in one weekend is over 400,000 cedis in taxes,” Davis explained.
“If every weekend we had one major concert in a region, government could generate almost 2 million cedis monthly in ticket taxes alone.”
But entertainment analyst Austin Wood cautioned that without verifiable data, the creative arts will struggle to attract government and private investment.
“Why should government give money to a private citizen to involve themselves in a private venture?” he asked. “Before they take that decision, there must be scientifically backed data on the cascading economic effect, not just estimates.”
He criticised the lack of reliable statistics in the sector. “In creative arts we don’t even know how many musicians we have, or how many sales they are making. Had it not been in recent times where GRA positions staff at events to counter-check ticketing, we wouldn’t even know actual attendance. We cannot grow investors with figures that are not scientifically backed.”
Asaase Radio’s Head of Events and Partnerships, Diego Parker Benin, agreed, pointing to fragmentation within the industry as another obstacle.
“There are too many segregations,” he said. “The film industry is divided, some unions are even in court, and this makes it hard to put data together. When businesses ask for numbers, we can’t provide them. If we could track and share figures from events like Rapperholic, it would make corporate Ghana more interested in jumping on board.”
He added that artists and event organisers need to start small by collecting their own numbers: “Maybe Sarkodie’s team tracks Kumasi attendance, another comedian does the same for his shows, the film producers for theirs. If everyone compiles their data, we can eventually build a unified picture strong enough to inform policy.”
All three experts agreed that the Rapperholic concert has proven the creative arts sector’s value — but unless data gaps are fixed and the industry speaks with one voice, the potential to transform Ghana’s economy may go unrealised.
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