Gary Al-Smith, Joy FM’s sports director, has said that lobbyists are necessary for those in the creative industries who want to draw in more funding.
He claims that is one strategy the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has employed to maintain itself in this regard.
On Thursday, April 27, 2023, he made this statement during Joy FM’s Twitter Spaces on arts, tourism, and culture.
Gary agreed that the arts and entertainment industry has a lot of promise and that campaigning and lobbying are necessary to attract investors while talking about the lack of investment prospects for the sector.
“Kwasi Nyantakyi, for whatever you wanna say about him, will forever get the credit for getting the Black Stars organised, attractive and the cash that it is today,” he said.
Relating it to the entertainment industry, he asked “who is doing the lobbying for you?”
He also cited an instance where prior to the 2022 World Cup, the government said it didn’t have money for Ghana’s participation in the tournament, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mustapha Ussif suggested to the President Nana Akufo-Addo to have a breakfast meeting with some corporate institutions so they could present a proposal to them.
He said after going through the proposal, the President gave his assent to the meeting.
Gary also mentioned another occasion where mobile telecommunication company MTN gave money to the Black Stars for free.
“Remember MTN gave $ 2 million to the Black Stars just for the World Cup. Can you imagine that? And this was as a result of lobbying. This is basically free money,” he told the host Kwame Dadzie.
source=myjoyonline
