The Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) participated in a two day fair organized by the Skills Development Fund (S.D.F) at the Trade Fair Site last week.

The fair was organized by SDF to showcase the activities of some beneficiaries of its grant. In all, 28 grantees participated in the exhibition. The Minister of Education Prof Naana Jane Opoku-Agyeman, opening the exhibition - called on the youth to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the S.D.F to develop their skills to improve their lives.

MUSIGA President, Bice Osei Kuffour shared his expectations of the MUSIGA Academy, “The industry lacks institutional capacity required and training can address this. With the Academy we hope to provide what is lacking in the industry to deliver a more professional delivery of musicianship. The objective is to ensure sharpened skills and education for professionalism in the industry e.g. artiste management and publicists and at the end of the day, we will have professionals equipped with knowledge to grow artistes and the industry as a whole,” he said.

General Secretary of the Union, Mrs Deborah Anaman had this to say, “The Academy aims to upgrade the skills of industry practitioners. It will produce a lot of people with the capacity to train others and also who will be deep in terms of their knowledge of the industry. This will certainly have a positive impact on the industry.”

MUSIGA is a beneficiary of the S.D.F under which the union is to develop a MUSIGA Academy under the supervision of the School of Performing Arts (S.P.A).

The Academy will provide training in a number of areas ranging from Music Business, Using ICT to develop your Career, Music Theory and Musicianship, Centre Stage grooming and Teaching Instruments. Others include Studio Specialization and a Survey of Traditional, Neo Traditional and Contemporary Music.

Other collaborators on the project are New Morning Arts Cafe and Globe Management Institute and NAFTI is a partner to the project.