The Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture has been urged to involve local artists in the Kwahu area in the annual tourism event to help partly create jobs for the youth skilled with arts of drawing and painting.
Kwahu is the biggest tourist destination in Ghana. Hundreds of tourists throng the area during Easter however the artists in the area say they have been left out.
The contribution of cultural and creative industries to economic growth is estimated to generate US$250 billion in revenue a year, creating 29.5 million jobs worldwide. Creative industries including visual arts contribute directly to economic growth and offer many economic benefits.
At the youth empowerment and skill development program held by Dot.Com Business at Obo -Kwahu to unearth local talents and skills, the artists in the area appealed to the Tourism Ministry to harness local talents in the creative arts industry.
“Tourism without artistic drawings is not tourism. Elsewhere drawings are very much appreciated and valued because visual art tells a story of our culture so I think the ministry should engage us during Kwahu easter. We have to be part of the entire event we are part of the creative arts Industry. Doing this will give us jobs and exposure to get international contracts” one of the participants told the media.
The organizer of the event also CEO of DoT.Com Business Fair Kwasi Boateng said Kwahu has lots of talented youth but the focus in the area has over the years been on business and trading opportunities leaving out the various skillsets and talents hence the event to uncover these the talents to showcase to the world.
“The theme is empowering the youth to become business-oriented, there is a young person who has the talent in him, there should be a coach who should help the talent to get to the market place, how should we do that? We need to formulate a platform that can help to drive that talent to so that the talent can be known in the market so that it can be exposed for money to come in. For me, a talent should be able to unlock the business aspect”
He added “talent is a business fair and it means that we are not going to take talent and get the person to probably dance and be casual. We need to direct the person to become a business person. There is a boy who is into painting who uses live use pencils to work. There is another boy who is using wood to carve and he is going to Accra with us. If talent is exposed it will bring traffic into these zones and the sky can be the limit”.
For the Parliamentary Candidate for, Mpraeso Constituency Davis Opoku Ansah government must build Business Development Center in Kwahu to boost the local tourism industry synchronized with business development.
“I think everybody in Ghana appreciates that if you want an industrious community or tribe it is Kwahus, We are into trade, industries, pharmaceuticals, and all of that. Despite this fact, most of the businesses reside outside Kwahu. That is why the establishment of a business resource center here in Kwahu will help, I have thought about the tourism potentials here in Kwahu and the need to add value to Agriculture products, also we cocoa and coffee in our community, these are some of the product that we think that when we have a business resource center it can equip or resource our young entrepreneur that level of support to be able to add to the value chain.”
He said efforts are underway to boost the tourism potentials in Kwahu.
“I know of the Kwahu Republic trying to put up a cultural center here in Kwahu to showcase these products to the world and is all part of the larger tourism industry we want to build here in Kwahu.
I have said that the money involve ànd the returns in promoting tourism in Kwahu far outweighs somebody coming to mine gold on our land so am focus and every platform I get we will talk about it and we are happy that we have the honorable Bryan Acheampong who also support the idea, who also believe in the bigger vision and together as members of Parliament we are very hopeful that we will push the Kwahu dream, more importantly, the tourism sector and adding value to agricultural products”
Dr. Bernard Abeiku Arthur is a Senior Urban Development Specialist who encouraged the youth in the Kwahu area to take advantage of Social media and the internet to explore the opportunity of City marketing.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
