The Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, and British icon, Idris Elba, recently held a meeting to discuss the expansion of Africa’s creative economy.
In a Facebook post, Dr. Bawumia, who has been leading the digitalization efforts, highlighted the objective of the meeting, which focused on incorporating Ghana’s creative industry and developing strategies to integrate it into the global financial ecosystem.
The post also mentioned that this meeting is part of a broader commitment and preparations for the launch of an advanced digital payment system, aimed at ensuring Ghanaian creatives receive fair compensation for the commercial use of their works worldwide.
Idris Elba is an English actor, rapper, singer, and DJ who is well-known for his roles in various productions such as The Wire, Luther, and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
He has received numerous accolades for his performances, including Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominations.
Elba has also appeared in notable films like American Gangster, Obsessed, and Prometheus, and has portrayed characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe.
Additionally, he has lent his voice to animated films such as Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Furthermore, Elba made his directorial debut with the film Yardie in 2018.
Here’s Bawumia’s post on his meeting with the Hollywood superstar:
Today, I met with celebrated actor, Idris Elba and his team, and we had a meaningful dialogue on the dynamic and expanding creative arts economy of Africa. Our focus was on the financial inclusion of Ghanaian creative arts and devising strategies to integrate them into the worldwide financial ecosystem.
Many African industry players are locked out of the global payments ecosystem and we therefore discussed the proposed implementation of a new system leveraging blockchain technology to assist them and ensure that they get paid for their music and arts no matter where in the world it is used commercially.
Given Ghana’s relatively advanced system of digital payments, the new system is expected to be launched in Ghana later this year. My thanks to Idris Elba for his commitment to the development of the African creative arts economy.
