Let’s leverage on the power of film to create jobs – Tourism Minister
Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, has called on the new governing board of the National Film Authority to leverage the power of film to help create jobs for the youth in the country.
He said today, the film had become very strong and powerful, hence the need to leverage its powers to create jobs and make Ghana an attractive location for film production in West Africa.
Inaugurating the 14-member board of the Authority, on Tuesday, in Accra, the Sector Minister said Ghana had all the attributes including diversified culture, over 29 castles and forts, rich customs and traditions, and very good landscape and echo systems to become the film hub in West Africa.
Dr. Awal charged the board to, from next year, produce not less than 200 very good films that would portray Ghanaian culture out of which over 40,000 jobs should be generated.
He congratulated the members and charged them to produce a strategic plan in the next four months, develop a script bank where film producers could take movies and shoot, as well as a film studio, to make the sector attractive.
“Our sector is number three in terms of GDP, but we want it to become number one, and to do that we need to generate five billion dollars every year for the Ghanaian economy, and the film is at the heart of this money,” he stressed.
Mr. David Dontoh, the board chairperson, commended the President for trusting and retaining most of them to continue to serve on the board.
He said they have had a feel of what prevailed in the Authority and were well aware of the enormity of the task ahead of them, and wholly accepted the challenge, assuring that they would deliver even more than what was expected.
Mr. Dontoh said, “I believe that the board is made up of the big brains in the industry, so if we cannot deliver then we have failed the industry and the country at large.”
He noted that as industry players, they would leverage on the synergies latent in their collaborative creativity because it was one particular industry that taped into virtually every facet of culture and heritage, and that they would deliver to the letter.
He assured the minister that they would do the necessary thinking and collaboration, so that together they would deliver, saying “we cannot fail the industry because most of us are still practitioners, so we will do our best to bring fame and honor and money to the country.”
Other members of the board include Madam Juliet Yaa Asantewaa Asante, Madam Yaa Akyena Attafua, Madam Josephine Ohene-Osei, Dr. Ramatu Mustapha Dadzie, Mr. Samuel Fiscian, Mr. Zakaria Abdulai, Mr. Kofi Mathew Narte B. Nartey, Madam Akofa Edjeani, Mr. Kofi Ohemeng Owusu, Madam Rukiyatu Naa Ayikaley Ankrah, Mr. Samuel Gyandoh, and Mr. Ernest Yaw Boateng.