Leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit and the Miss Ghana UK Foundation are banking their hopes on art as the future of Ghana by picking an art proposal as the winning project for the #MyFutureGH contest.
The winner, Edna Azumah Aninga, proposed to use art to curb societal problems.
Her proposal was selected as the best among the over 120 entries from women across Ghana between the ages of 16 and 26, at the Silver Jubilee Miss Ghana UK Awards night in London.
The #MyFutureGH contest sought to find out how participants would use the prize money of GHC20,000 to fulfil their ambitions and inspire others in the process.
Ideas ranged from photojournalism, farming, music to military. But most of the entries proposed to use Ghana’s artistic heritage in beading, art and design to build a better future and Edna’s entry stood out among the lot.
Edna who hails from Bolgatanga in northern Ghana, is expected to invest the money in her winning project, which proposes to build an online art market to promote art works such as pottery and weaving from communities in northern Ghana.
She said that online platform will also be a way to promote tourism to Ghana, adding that she will also train people in her local community in pottery and weaving and empower them to escape poverty.
Edna said she will also tap on her background in journalism and the arts to tackle problems such as teenage pregnancy, unsafe abortions, unemployment and child labour.
“I chose to use art to resolve societal issues and create a better future because I believe art is a unversal language that everyone understands and this is an opportunity for me to use Ghanaian art to reach people around the world,” she said.
Head of Marketing at WorldRemit, Martin Best said the judging panel was most impressed about how Edna’s entry particularly because of its striking potential to promote Ghana’s talents and cultural heritage in art internationally, whilst creating opportunities within Ghana both today and long into the future.
He noted that people around the world are looking to Ghana as a hotspot for art and design and he sees Edna’s proposal offering the opportunity to leverage international interest in Ghanaian arts and design.
Martin Best stated that the success of Ghanaian artists such as El Anatsui and Ibrahim Mahama and the recent opening of Gallery 1957, is already putting Ghana on the map of countries to look out for.
He believes art is a sure way to address the problem of poverty for lots of Ghanaians, adding that WorldRemit is not only interested in remitting monies of their Ghanaian customers to their families and friends back home, but also in creating opportunities for the Ghanaian youth and that is why they came out with the #MyFutureGH contest.
“Many of our customers have left Ghana to seek new opportunities, but the money they send back is creating new opportunities for people within Ghana today and in the future,” he said.
A representative of Miss Ghana UK, Cilla Baafuor-Gyewu noted that the quality of the entries is testament to the wealth of talent among Ghanaian women and she believes that is exactly what is needed to inspire others and build a better future.
She said WorldRemit and Miss Ghana UK Foundation will be working with Edna over the coming months to help make her vision a reality, adding that Edna will work with her mentors on the details of her proposal and on how the money would be invested most effectively.
