Bawumia and Idris Elba on how to expand Africa’s creative economy

The Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia and renowned British icon, Idris Elba have met to have relevant conversation on expanding the creative economy of Africa.

In a Facebook post, the Vice President who has been spearheading digitalisation noted that the goal of the meeting hinged on the inclusion of Ghana’s creative industry and devising strategies to integrate them into the world financial ecosystem. (Related article: NDC reacts to Bawumia's vision)

The post also revealed that today’s meeting forms part of the broader commitment and preparations towards the launch of an advanced system of digital payments for Ghanaian creatives to get due payment for the commercial use of their works in any part of the world.

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Today, I met with celebrated actor, Idris Elba and his team, and we had a meaningful dialogue on the dynamic and expanding creative arts economy of Africa. Our focus was on the financial inclusion of Ghanaian creative arts and devising strategies to integrate them into the worldwide financial ecosystem. 

Many African industry players are locked out of the global payments ecosystem and we therefore discussed the proposed implementation of a new system leveraging blockchain technology to assist them and ensure that they get paid for their music and arts no matter where in the world it is used commercially. 

Given Ghana’s relatively advanced system of digital payments, the new system is expected to be launched in Ghana later this year. My thanks to Idris Elba for his commitment to the development of the African creative arts economy.