Ghana goes to the polls in December 2024 to elect a new government. Currently, the Ghanaian voter will have to decide between two major parties, the National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Both parties have released their manifestos of what they plan to do in their government if elected in December.
Here’s how both parties compare when it comes to dealing with the creative industry in Ghana:
Creative Industry NPP Scheme (PDF)
- Use tax incentives, including a flat tax, to encourage private sector investment in sports, tourism and creative arts facilities
- Implement an e-visa policy for all international visitors to Ghana to make visa acquisition quick and easy for visitors
- to implement a visa-free policy for all nationals of African and Caribbean countries visiting Ghana
- to create, in partnership with the private sector, a streaming and digital curation platform for Ghanaian content developers in the creative arts
- creation of a Travel Protocol Service (TPS) for the creative community to enable artists, performers and other creatives to honor international performances and performances
NDC Creative Industries Plan (PDF)
- Create and promote ‘The Black Star Experience’ as the flagship of Ghana’s Culture, Arts and Tourism brand to make Ghana a preferred tourist destination.
- Revitalizing the Creative Arts Fund to provide sustainable financial support to start-ups and struggling large, medium and small creative businesses.
- Review and strictly enforce broadcasting, digital media and local content provisions to stimulate local artistic productions.
- Facilitate, enforce and strengthen the copyright and rights collection and management system in Ghana.
- Work with the private sector to build a state-of-the-art entertainment village with auditoriums for movies, music concerts and other special events.
Our acceptance
Both parties say they will impose policies to boost the creativity sector, but do not go into specific details or numbers
Our take on the NPP manifesto
The NPP manifesto focuses more on attracting international travelers to boost tourism in the country, focusing on visa-free initiatives and a travel protocol for creatives traveling for shows outside the country.
The NPP manifesto’s plan to work together to create a streaming and digital management platform is unclear, especially given the fact that organizations like GHARMO already exist to collect royalties on behalf of creatives.
Our take on the NDC manifesto
As with the NDC manifesto, there are some policies that are “vague” policies and require more detail. The NDC manifesto states that they will enforce and strengthen the collection of creative royalties, which we assume would mean that they plan to renew and give more resources to GHARMO for their activities
Interestingly, the NDC manifesto promotes the creation of more venues for auditoriums and venues for creative events, but does not go into detail. Ironically, the current government also promised to build auditoriums but has not delivered.
Total
Both parties present general policies, but need to be more specific about how much funding they want to create and how they would fund entities like GHARMO.
The NPP manifesto includes some more specific details on tourism, including visa-free, e-visa and transportation protocols to attract more tourists and help local artists expand beyond Ghana’s borders.
We feel that the NPP manifesto is a little more detailed overall in terms of its policies for the creative sector in Ghana, but we will be on the lookout for more details as both parties for the December elections.
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