I'll make our film industry competitive, vibrant – Akufo-Addo

President Akufo-Addo has vowed to make Ghana’s film industry competitive and viable to attract investors, create more jobs and grow the economy.

He made this known to a gathering of filmmakers, creative arts industry players and other stakeholders at the maiden edition of The Presidential Film Pitch Series.

Speaking at the launch on Wednesday, 28 April 2021 under the theme: "Strengthening the Ghana film Ecosystem” in Accra, President Akufo-Addo said countries such as the United States of America (USA) and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, have built profitable film industries.

“I am aware that the Ghanaian film industry has many fine, talented players along the value chain and the government will continue to initiate policies and programmes to help make the Ghanaian film sector competitive and viable. The National Film Authority will lead the charge in introducing business development modules into film-making, production and distribution in order to help create a vibrant market for local film production”, President Akufo-Addo stated.

“Take for instance the American film industry, better known as Hollywood, which supports some twenty-two million jobs and a staggering wage bill of one hundred and thirty-seven billion US$137,000,000,000. In neighbouring Nigeria, Nollywood is said to contribute some six hundred million US$600,000,000 to the country gross domestic product and create some one million jobs,” the President added.

President Akufo-Addo further indicated that he believes that Ghana can also work “to produce such statistics and the availability of the right skills set is critical to this end”.

He reiterated his resolve to strengthen the creative sector to make it a significant contributor to national development.

The “government, through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and the National Film Authority, has brought together Ghanaian film producers on one hand and investors, distributors and marketers on another hand to make deals to the tune of 25 million dollars. This investment which has already been secured will go a long way to strengthen the local film ecosystem,” he said.

According to the president, about 6,000 jobs are expected to be created through this initiative.

The Presidential Film Pitch Series is a film activation programme in Ghana aimed at creating a platform for Ghanaian filmmakers with projects within the film ecosystem to engage investors, broadcasters, distributors, sponsors, and platforms around the world for potential opportunities.

Some 100 projects, in the form of documentaries, feature films, short films, series, games, film infrastructure were received by the National Film Authority (NFA) from Ghanaian film entrepreneurs, out of which 25 projects have been shortlisted.

The final part of the pitch series will be held on Thursday, 29 April and Friday, April 30, 2021.