The Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) John Dramani Mahama has outlined a plan to transform the creative industry and harness its potential for growth if elected president in the December 7 election.

He therefore called on creatives, especially those based in Kumasi to support his “Reset Ghana” agenda and lead the charge to vote him and the NDC back into office.

Speaking at a meeting with a section of stakeholders in the creative industry in Kumasi on Tuesday, Mr. Mahama said it was time for the government to make huge investments in the sector which has seen exponential growth in terms of revenue generation globally to reap some of its benefits for the development of the country. 

Creative fund 

The next NDC government, under his leadership, he said would make that investment to serve as a springboard for the sector’s growth. 

Staging a comeback at the presidency, Mr Mahama has been engaging various groups to reiterate the need to vote the NDC back into office and promised his commitment to the vision of transforming the creative industry. 

He said at the heart of this vision is the establishment of the Creative Arts Fund, designed to provide sustainable financial support to start-ups, as well as large, medium, and small creative enterprises. 

This fund, he said will serve as a lifeline for struggling creative businesses, empowering them to manage resources efficiently and expand their ventures.

New theatres

He said the NDC, if successful at the polls, will rehabilitate the National Theatre in Accra and build another one in Kumasi to support content creators in the region.

Mr Mahama noted that the party made the promise in its 2020 manifesto and will ensure that it is fulfilled by the next NDC government.

“In our 2020 manifesto, we promised to build Ghana’s second national theatre in Kumasi. We have not reneged on our promise and we are repeating that if we come into power, we will build our second theatre in Kumasi,” he said. 

John Mahama lamented the poor state of National Theatre in Accra and revealed that plan also includes modernizing the Theatre with state-of-the-art equipment to serve as a creative hub for artists nationwide.

“National Fim theatre since the Chinese helped us to build under Rawlings’s time till now, it has not been rehabilitated.

“A lot of things are in bad shape at the theatre. The curtains cannot be drawn, the stage is in bad shape and so it is time for us to rehabilitate the building so it can help the creative industry, he said.