Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of policy think tank IMANI Africa, believes President Nana Akufo-Addo’s planned tax breaks might assist Ghana’s movie industry reach levels comparable to Nigeria’s.
In his State of the Nation speech on Tuesday, February 27, Akufo-Addo revealed intentions to provide income tax reductions, VAT incentives, import duty waivers on equipment, and a 20% refund on key film productions.
According to the President, the purpose is to “support the production of world-class content and films, as well as increasing cinema infrastructure in Ghana and, by extension, across the continent.”
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Franklin Cudjoe lauded the “favourable fiscal (tax) regime” and stated that it “undoubtedly will make our film-making industry finally come close to what our brothers in Nigeria are enjoying.”
Cudjoe feels that if properly executed, tax cuts might assist Ghana’s industry, in addition to its “generally low cost of production.”
According to the IMANI CEO, the move will allow Ghanaian films to compete on a worldwide scale with Nigeria’s burgeoning Nollywood sector.