Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Madam Catherine Afeku, as part of an effort to champion the culture of Ghana and Africa, has revealed that she uses GTP wax print, a Ghana-made textile, for the curtains in her office.

Speaking at the ‘Stakeholder Dialogue and Arts Emporium’ to celebrate Ghana Culture Day 2018 and the Multimedia Group Ghana Month, she encouraged the audience and Ghanaians to patronize what is made in here in the country.

“I am relieved that we have a day to celebrate the culture and heritage of our land. I entreat all Ghanaians to have an attitude change towards made-in-Ghana products. I practise what I preach, I use GTP for my curtains in the office, I patronize our beads and other made-in-Ghana goods,” she said.

The Minister listed three things to help improve the patronage of our products and culture.

She said, “In order to achieve our goal, we must first change our attitude towards anything Ghana. The second is our policy makers, are they patronizing made-in-Ghana products? They must eat, play, wear and promote Ghana. Thirdly, funding, which can be raised here, if we patronize Ghana.”

She added that she was elated and proud to be a Ghanaian when the country’s popular Kente fabric was used in the Hollywood blockbuster, ‘Black Panther’.

“For the first time since independence, it is cool to be African. Those of you who have seen the Black Panther…. the power of culture. When I watched the recent all-black cast movie showing a stripe of Kente, I was overwhelmed to see Ghana championing culture.”

The minister stressed that culture, arts and tourism are not an attachment to other sectors of the economy but rather, it is a transformative sector.

“If we all come together, we can transform and outlive gold, outlive oil, outlive cocoa, and we can see a serious budgetary allocation to arts, culture and tourism. It is the only industry that brings people together, respects talents and have the potential to create millions of jobs.”

The minister was speaking at a Stakeholder Dialogue held at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT on Wednesday on the theme: “Putting Value on Arts and Culture: Policies, Institutions and Funding”.

Other personalities at the event were Prof George Yaw Gyau-Baffour, Minister of Planning; Prof Esi Sutherland-Addy, Dr Misonu Amu, Akunu Dake, Mamaga Dzifa Gomeshi and a host of other dignitaries.

Apart from the Stakeholder Dialogue, the event had a sub-event, ‘Traffic Pop-up’ (Visual Arts installations, fashion stunts and performances) and a Mini-emporium (exhibitions and performances).