The Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has convened the maiden meeting of the newly established Culture and Creative Arts Committee at the ministry’s conference room in Accra, following a stakeholder engagement held on March 15, 2025.
The Committee, inaugurated to address critical issues in Ghana’s culture and creative sector, will provide strategic guidance on mainstreaming culture in national development.
In her remarks, Gomashie emphasised the need to define where culture fits into the country’s development scheme and reaffirmed President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to integrating culture into policy and education.
“As soon as I asked the Minister of Education if culture would be brought back into the curriculum, he said ‘yes’, It will evolve gradually through policy and curriculum reforms,” she said.
Key concerns outlined for the Committee’s consideration include: cultural identity, policy coherence, capacity-building, funding, education reform, and promotion of domestic tourism.
The minister also acknowledged the need for collaboration across institutions, referencing the overlapping work around the Black Star Experience.
Committee Chairperson Nanahemaa Adwoa Awindor, a renowned television host and Development Queenmother of Afigya-Kwabre in the Ashanti Region, thanked the minister for her vision and urged members to begin work immediately.
“We must rise to the challenge and find timely solutions to the sector’s long-standing issues,” she stated.
The 11-member Committee comprises stakeholders from academia, government, civil society, and UNESCO and is expected to meet regularly to drive policy direction and strengthen Ghana’s cultural infrastructure.
