IPP to invest in culture, job creation
The Independent People’s Party (IPP) will invest over GH¢100 million every year in the cultural and creative arts industries to create jobs and grow the economy.
This, according to the party, would also help the middle class to strengthen the rich Ghanaian identity.
The party said Ghana’s cultural and creative arts industries were a vibrant part of the economy and portrayed the national identity.
Presidential candidate
According to Mr Kofi Akpaloo, the presidential candidate of the IPP, Ghanaian artists, producers, composers and technicians are leaders in their fields and undeniably Ghanaian assets.
In a signed statement, the presidential candidate said it was estimated that culture brought in more than GH¢400 million worth of economic benefits each year and provided employment for over one hundred thousand Ghanaians.
He said this was the right time to invest in the rapidly evolving digital technologies and creative artists would derive benefits if they took advantage of the technology.
Mr Akpaloo observed that as a result of technology, cultural and creative industries were gaining increased access to platforms to share new trends and knowledge.
Importance
Mr Akpaloo stated further that the country needed a government that understood the importance of investing in the creative and cultural industries.
He said the cultural and creative arts industries were offering great opportunity to the youth and it was time the nation placed premium on it .
In his view, government investment in the industries would stimulate economic activity, create jobs, develop the middle class and help Ghanaian artists share Ghanaian stories in Ghana and around the world.
Unfortunately, Mr Akpaloo said under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) /National Democratic Congress (NDC) for two decades, ”our cultural and creative industries have been under attack; they have both not paid attention to invest and grow the industry, because they don’t understand the economic importance attached to the cultural and creative arts industry.’’
Investment in sports
Relatedly, the IPP, he disclosed, would also invest GH¢600 million in sports to create 40,532 jobs in Ghana
The IPP explained that investment in sports accrued benefits for the health and well-being of the country.
‘’We need to invest in sports more than ever to create wealth and jobs – let’s not make a big mistake,’’ he stressed.
According to the Mr Akpaloo, sports had been neglected under NPP and NDC for two decades to the extent that most football pitches had been converted to stores.
Sporting infrastructure
‘’How do you grow such a vast industry without investing in sporting infrastructure, skills and talent development?’’ he queried.
According to the presidential candidate, Ghana lacked sporting facilities to develop the industry to create wealth and jobs.
‘’IPP understands that investment in grass-roots development is vital to the future of sports in Ghana and the grass-roots approach is the only way we can attain the laudable goal of representative sporting teams,’’ the party stressed.
“The IPP fully supports the need for diversity in sports. We will focus on both bottom-up and top-down interventions to promote the required transformation in our sports teams,” he added.
Massive investment
An IPP government, Mr Akpaloo said, would ensure that the 2017 budget contained massive investment in sports.
He expressed the belief that that would deliver to communities across Ghana various sporting disciplines such as rugby, cricket, basketball and athletics.
The party would also nurture sports from the school and community levels through to club level and up to professional leagues to develop interest, talent and competitiveness.
