Sports journalist, Gary Al-Smith says Ghana has made more gains from the entertainment industry in recent times than it has from sports.
According to him, despite the huge investments the country has made in sports particularly football, it has not gained much from the game except unending scandals.
He, however, observed that the entertainment sector, which receives no attention from the state, has churned out numerous jobs and put food on the table for many Ghanaians.
This, he said, would have been more if the state had redirected portion of the resources it kept pumping into football to the creative arts industry.
“I will be one of those who will probably controversially say that from 2006 till now, perhaps if we had strategically, like Dada Hafco advocates, given a little portion of what we spent on the Black Stars to the entertainment, we might have gotten a bit more,” he stated.
He continued, “Truth be told, entertainment has probably, pound for pound, dollar for dollar, cedi for cedi, the return on investment on entertainment has probably been more than in terms of direct jobs created, indirect jobs created and putting food on the table of local economies, the Black Stars does not come close”.
The sports journalist said this in a discussion on Joy FM Twitter Spaces on which of the two projects Ghana more on the global stage.
Musician, Dada Hafco had advocated that the country should channel the resources it is investing in football into the arts industry since the latter, in recent times, is putting the country on the map globally.
Gary Al-Smith agrees with him but stated that such investment must be strategic.
