Baba Sadiq Abdulai, former CEO of 3Media Networks and NDC parliamentary hopeful for Okaikoi Central, has said he believes that the creative industry can contribute significantly to the revenue of government if it is given the proper attention and management.
In an interview on Adom FM, he stated that the industry has the potential to generate enormous revenue for the country and should not be overlooked.
“If we are doing well, we will contribute more to the government. Let me give you an example. Towards the end of last year, the government said our GDP, the top three contributions to our GDP, were tourism, arts, and culture,” he said.
Baba Sadiq referred to a statement by the government towards the end of last year, which identified tourism, arts, and culture as the top three contributions to the country’s GDP, followed by hydrocarbon or hydroculture resources.
“Number three, they said we have hydrocarbon or hydroculture resources. Number three is our industry. At the time the president was talking about our industry, he mentioned that in 2025 he believes or has an intention to let the creative industry be able to churn out a five billion dollar contribution to the country,” he added.
He emphasized that the creative industry was third on the list and had the potential to contribute up to $5 billion by 2025.
He further noted that the arrangements for the industry should be powered to make it successful.
“How much do we need from the IMF to arrange everything? It’s not three billion dollars. Now if the creative industry has the potential to generate 5 billion dollars by 2025, what does that tell you? This is an industry that cannot be toyed with. This is an industry whose arrangements need to be powered to make it good,” he stated.
The media personality also highlighted the potential of the creative industry to create sustainable livelihoods for people.
He pointed out that multimedia, as part of the creative industry, employed almost 1,000 people directly in Kumasi and elsewhere and indirectly employed another 1,000.
“People don’t understand because just multimedia as a part of the creative industry employs almost 1,000 people in Kumasi and elsewhere, and indirectly, I’m sure you will employ another 1,000. Who has sustainable livelihoods? Which government doesn’t want to collaborate with the private sector to create jobs for many?” he mentioned.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com