Invest In music industry - Kufuor

President John Agyekum Kufuor has invited both local and foreign investors to turn their attention to Ghana’s music and tourism industries, which are relatively virgin sectors of the nation’s economy.

He said despite the abundance of music talents in the country, there was a business side to music which had so far not received much attention in the country.

President Kufuor was addressing a gathering of dignitaries including investors at the Barclays Offshore Banking Gala Dinner Night at the Independence Square in Accra last Friday.

The event dubbed, “Barclays in Harmony with Ghana”, was to climax the 90th Anniversary of Barclays’ presence in Ghana.

President Kufuor stressed that investing in music would help the industry break into the highly competitive global music market which required not only talent, training and technological back up, but most importantly, funding.

“This needs to be addressed to give Ghanaian music an appeal beyond our national borders.”

According to him, Ghana had produced great musicians of the classical mould who were celebrated by choral groups at local and international musical festivals, adding, “There are also musicians of all types, with high-life musicians being the most popular in Ghana.”

President Kufuor, who was excited that Barclays was beginning to take an interest in this potentially profitable area, expressed the hope that it would be the genesis of a process which would eventually bring Ghanaian art forms, especially music, to the attention of the world.

Mrs Margaret Mwanakatwe, the Managing Director of Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited in her address said Ghana had become the destination for investors in the sub-region and was touted as a gateway to West Africa and would continue to receive commendations from reputable international agencies for being able to achieve economic stability.

“We are happy with achievements and partnership with Ghana for the past 90 years, and we are proud of our heritage in Ghana”, she said.

Reiterating Barclays’ commitments to Ghana, Mrs Mwanakatwe said the bank was poised to increase its branches from 31 to 64 by next year and also double its customer and deposit bases, as well as loan portfolio to help it become the leader in the industry.

The Chief Executive Officer of Global Retail and Commercial Banking of Barclays Plc, Mr Frits Seegers commended President Kufuor and his government’s sound policies which had contributed to the serene economic and political dispensation of the country.