Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Hollywood actor Idris Elba, recently had a meeting to discuss ways to expand the creative arts economy in Africa.

In a post on Facebook, Dr Bawumia indicated that their conversation included ways to finance Ghana’s creative arts industry and devising strategies to integrate it into the worldwide financial ecosystem.

He wrote; “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,” parts of the post read.

This is not the first time the British actor has met a statesman to discuss Ghana’s creative arts industry.

In February 2023, Idris Elba in a conversation with President Akufo-Addo during a visit to the Jubilee House announced that he and his partners have undertaken some groundwork aimed at facilitating the building of a film studio in Ghana and across West Africa.

The actor explained that although so much can be achieved in the film industry in Africa, facilities are lacking.

Hence, Idris Elba was convinced that the project, when completed, would be robust and competitive to attract filmmakers to choose Ghana for their productions.