New Trade Fair centre to address creative arts venue challenges

New Trade Fair centre to address creative arts venue challenges

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has highlighted the Ghana Trade Fair Convention and Exhibition Centre as a game-changer for the creative arts industry, addressing longstanding challenges with inadequate event seating capacities.

The ongoing project, which features a 20,000-seat capacity and a 5,000-square-metre pre-event lobby, is expected to be completed within eight months.

During a tour of the construction site on November 25, Dr Bawumia described the centre as a transformative initiative aimed at easing the burden on the creative arts sector and enhancing event hosting capabilities.

“It is a very much-needed project because we believe that some of the key pillars for the growth of this economy lie in Tourism and the Creative Arts. If we have to bring an artist to play and the capacity is 3,000 people, then it means they have to charge much higher prices to make up for their cost.

“And so, you tend to see the cost for shows and so on being high. And therefore they don’t make the requisite revenues or profits for their businesses. And so, we will see Ghana being in a position with this sort of Exhibition Centre, which is 20,000 capacity, that is almost ten times the capacity we have now, that opens a whole new avenue for Creative Arts and Tourism, for hosting conferences and exhibitions.

“It’s a big market for doing so. I want to assure the Creative Arts Industry that with the completion of this project, we should have something for you in 8 months that is world-class.”

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited, Dr. Agnes Adu noted that the completion of the centre will be in eight months

“The Centre which is now under rigorous construction will be ready in about 6 to 8 months from now.”