Akufo-Addo: I’ll make film industry competitive, profitable

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has assured all stakeholders in the film and creative arts sector that his administration will work hard to make the industry competitive and profitable.

Addressing the first in a series of the Presidential Film Pitch in Accra under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the National Film Authority (NFA), Akufo-Addo noted that countries such as the United States and Nigeria, have built profitable film industries and Ghana is capable of doing same.

“I am aware that the Ghanaian film industry has many fine, talented players along the value chain and government will continue to initiate policies and programmes to help make the Ghanaian film sector competitive and viable. The National Film Authority will lead the charge in introducing business development modules into film making, production and distribution in order to help create a vibrant market for local film production,” Akufo-Addo said.

“Take for instance the American film industry, better known as Hollywood, which supports some twenty-two million jobs and a staggering wage bill of US$137,000,000,000. In neighboring Nigeria, Nollywood is said to contribute some US$600,000,000 to the country’s gross domestic product and create some one million jobs,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo indicated that it was not beyond Ghana “to produce such statistics,” acknowledging that the availability of the right skill set is critical to achieving same.

Empowering NAFTI

Akufo-Addo noted that in order to produce the right skills set, government would retool the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) to provide needed training for industry players in the quest to make Ghana attractive for international film productions as well as becoming a hub for film production in the West African region.

“Forty-five million euros (€45,000,000.00) has been approved for NAFTI to reform it into a world class training facility,” Akufo-Addo said.

Creative Arts Industry Act

He also revealed that he has given his assent to the Creative Arts Industry Act which was passed by the 7th Parliament during his first term in office. He indicated that the Act will help create an “enabling environment for the Ghanaian film sector and the creative arts sector in general, to contribute effectively to the nation’s growth”.

Opening of cinemas

On the subject of the opening of cinemas in the country which have remained closed from March 2020 due to the outbreak of the novel corona virus, COVID-19, the President noted that the task force managing the COVID-19 pandemic in the country was reviewing the measure and industry players will soon receive word on the road map to the reopening of same.

“The opening of cinemas is under constant review by the COVID-19 task force and hopefully, we will hear from the task force very soon,” Akufo-Addo said.

Presidential film pitch series

The Presidential Film Pitch Series is a film activation program in Ghana aimed at creating the platform for Ghanaian filmmakers with projects within the Ghanaian film ecosystem to engage investors, broadcasters, distributors, sponsors and platforms around the world for potential collaborations, sponsorships, investments, sales and advertising opportunities.

100 projects in the form of documentaries, feature films, short films, series, games, film infrastructure were received by the National Film Authority (NFA) from Ghanaian film entrepreneurs. Out of the numbers received, 25 projects have been shortlisted. The goal is for each shortlisted project to close deals that will bring it to fruition.

Wilberforce Asare

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