THE POWER AND POTENTIAL OF THE ORANGE ECONOMY

Juliet Yaa A. Asante

The focus of the Ishmael Yamson and Associates Business Roundtable 2023 on wealth creaon, emphasises its urgency in the current circumstances.

The pandemic provided an opportunity for global reset and some countries and organisaon capitalized on the creave space as a route to creang a reenergisedeconomy

The orange economy, which is what the creave economy is called, proved to be one of the most resilient sectors, if not the most resilient, during the pandemic. In the United States, average incomes in t h i s s e c to r exc e e d e d t h o s e o f o i l , ga s , telecommunicaons, and others by 40% during the pandemic.

During the pandemic, despite challenges in content creaon, there was a surge in demand as global streamers like Nelix, Disney, and Amazon ramped up their content acquisions and producon For example, Nelix announced an investment of over $2 billion in South Korean content (K-Drama) and released a report on their acvies in Africa. However, investment levels by streamers in African countries remainrelavelylowcomparedtoglobaltrends.

Nigeria'sFilmHouseanditssubsidiary, FilmOne, led the way in demonstrang the power of local content during the pandemic. They produced indigenous content, taking advantage when content oulow from global studios was heavily challenged, to enhance investments in local content creaon. This resulted in indigenous content earning millions at the box office, a remarkable achievement. FilmHouse's significantinvestmentincontent,coupledwithothers, includingGovernment,haspropelledtheNigerianfilm industryforward.

The case of Nigeria highlights the importance of a strategic decision and commitment by policymakers and the business community to invest in the sector The launch of iniaves like the Nollywood Access Fund and support from the Bank of Industry have set an example that many African countries, including Ghana,havefailedtofollow Merelywishingforsimilar results without accompanying investments is insufficient. African leaders oen offer lip service to the sector without implemenng necessary policies and investments, while African investors tend to priorize "tangible" investment opportunies. However, the sector, valued at over $20 billion according to a 2021 UNESCO report, presents significant potenal Investors like FilmHouse are already reaping substanal returns, as they emerge as the leading player in Nigeria and expand across the connent.

Ghana, the second-largest content producer in the West Africa region aer Nigeria, has received minimal investment in the sector While Ghana has established a film commission - the Naonal Film Authority of Ghana, the lack of the necessary accompanying funding has made it extremely challenging for the Authority to achieve an audacious strategic plan for development. Success will mean significant gains for Ghana, as the sector has the capacity to create massive employment and aract Foreign Direct investments. The example of Atlanta, Georgia in aracng over 10 billion dollars and creang 300 new jobs in its first year of posioning as a film hub is a case study for most economies seeking to follow similar plans. Ghana's plan, similarly seeks to posion Ghana as a film and content hub in the region. It is therefore important that Government follows through with its commitment to the sector. It is worth nong however, that only 40% of African countries have a film commission, according to the UNESCO report. Despite the difficules faced, the recognion of the Naonal Film Authority's work as strategic and innovave by the authors of the UNESCO report is noteworthy and deservingofacknowledgment.

The private sector in Ghana has been slow to parcipate in the sector, possibly due to the lack of sector data and the inability of players to speak stronglytoaclearreturnoninvestments.

According to the 2021 Unesco report, the creave sector, parcularly film, is the largest employer in Africa. Addionally, the emergence of animaon and video games presents significant opportunies. In 2021, Ghanaians spent over $40 million on mobile game downloads, which increased to $60 million in 2022, posioning Ghana as the second-largest video game market aer South Africa, where over 40% of the populaon are gamers. However, despite the growing interest in the gaming and animaon subsector, which is part of the global industry, esmated to exceed a worth over $400 billion in just a couple of years, Ghana mainly serves as a consumer market. Local video game and animaon studios struggle to secure investments to expand and tap into the revenue generated from Ghanaian and African consumers'expendituresongaming.

Three crical factors define our me and highlight bothreasonsforhopeandconcerns.

Firstly, the populaon explosion in Africa, parcularly the growing youth populaon, with esmates indicang that by 2030, 40% of global youth will be in Africa, and this number is expected to double by 2050. This demographic shi surpasses that of China and India,whiletherestoftheworldagesincomparison.

Secondly, the increased internet penetraon, widespread use of smartphones, and the rise of mobile money, along with the growing middle class, present excing developments. In the creave space, technology adopon, the establishment of creave fesvals and hubs, and the interest of streaming plaorms like Nelix, Amazon, and Showmax have led to a boom in content creaon, leading to the phrase 'content is the new oil.' Major investments, such as Mulchoice's $10 million investment in Ghanaian content for their channels, exemplify the increasing demandandopportuniesinthisarea.

Thirdly, the adaptaon to content plaorms like TikTok, the ability to moneze YouTube channels and Facebook pages, and the empowerment of individuals to produce, self-publish, and distribute their own content have brought success stories throughout the connent. Technological advancements have reduced barriers to entry, allowing young people to enter the sector and create viable sources of income Furthermore, technology has connected the connent, facilitang the rise of content with crossconnental appeal, leveraging the potenal market size. The African Connental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents an excing opportunity to accelerate this trend. However, policymakers and African investors seem to overlook these trends due to a lack of trust, slow availability of data, resistance to change, and relavely slower technology uptake, hindering efforts toaractinvestorsintothesector

The main obstacle to harnessing the potenal of the African creave sector for the benefit of its people is the lack of funding, rather than a lack of opportunies orskilllevels.

The youth populaon in Africa represents energy, a skilled workforce, and potenal spending power. Considering the aging populaon in other parts of the world, it is crucial for African investors to take the lead in invesng in African content and not wait to merely follow the footsteps of foreign investors who have already demonstrated a greater appete and willingness to invest in the sector on the connent. CanalPlus, for instance, not only invests but also acquires African investments, such as Iroko TV and Cote Quest, a major distributor serving Francophone countries and one of the four major distribuon companies on the connent. There are significant investment opportunies available throughout the value chain, spanning producon, distribuon, and exhibion.

The potenal of Africa's rising youth populaon in relaon to global demographics is oen met with reacons varying from surprise to alarm in my meengs worldwide It is crucial for businesses, including global ones, to develop a plan to capitalize on this dynamic youth demographic in Africa. Failing to do so means missing out on both the market and workforce. The implicaons of this missed opportunity for businesses worldwide have yet to be quanfied but are undoubtedly significant The absence of discussions about this topic at policy and investment tables is perplexing Creave sector inclusion in investment summits and outreach, even byorganizaons like the Ghana Investment Promoon Centre,israre.

Ghana's successful campaigns like "Year of Return" and "Beyond the Return" have highlighted the significant role played by the creave sector in driving tourism and subsequent gains for the country. Infrastructure alone is not what aracts tourists; it is the content and people of a country that engage and capvate visitors. Film Tourism, in parcular, has proven to be a major driver of tourism globally, with the ability to increase tourist numbers by up to 500% for sustained periods of over 5 years. Examples such as "BraveHeart" and "Game of Thrones" have significantlyboostedtourisminScotland and Morocco as viewers travel to experience the locaons featured inthesefilms.Moreover,thecreavespaceservesasa powerful tool for promong culture and so power on a global scale. South Korea's deliberate investment in its people and content as major exports has not only propelled its entertainment industry but has also showcased its language and local products like "Soju"a local drink akin to Ghana's Akpeteshie, to the world. Soju is now recognized and served throughout the world.

The Ghana film industry aims to establish Ghana as a film and content hub. Aracng film shoots to the country is a highly compeve global strategy, parcularly as many economies seek to bolster their inflow of dollars through the sector in the postpandemic era. Major producons bring substanal financial investments, known as "so money," that smulate local economies by supporng film crews and various businesses such as hotels, catering houses, clothing houses, and equipment rentals.

Furthermore, the industry's growth contributes to the creaon of local jobs, facilitates skills transfer, and promotesfilmtourism.

Ghana possesses 60% of the necessary elements to realize its ambion as a film and content hub, including desirable locaons, safety, favourable weather, a robust banking sector, a skilled workforce, and training schools. However, crical gaps persist in infrastructure, such as studios, equipment and set design houses, skilled workforce availability, and producon facilies capable of handling large-scale projects. For instance, the potenal interest of Girls Trip 2 to shoot in Ghana raised concerns about the lack of supporng infrastructure and the absence of a tax incenve to aract global filmmakers. Fortunately, the Naonal Film Authority of Ghana and related agencies are acvely working on a Tax Incenve program expected to be implemented in 2023. This program aims to provide tax reliefs to both foreign and local investors in the sector, an essenal factor in aracng internaonal producers to choose Ghana as their shoongdesnaon.

The market for content distribuon presents a significant challenge and opportunity for investors in the creave sector, parcularly in film. The lack of a clear investment return plan has been a common concern among investors, emphasizing the need for a morebusiness-orientedapproachtofunding.

The African market, specifically in cinema, faces a substanal gap. With less than 1,000 cinemas and under 1,700 screens across the enre connent, the numbers pale in comparison to countries like France, which boasts over 6,000 screens. Furthermore, over 70% of the African populaon has never been to a cinema, highlighng the untapped potenal. While some argue that streaming has replaced cinemas, the reality on the ground suggests that cinema experiences can be adapted to suit the unique African context. Cinema-going remains a cost-effecve form of entertainment and will connue to be relevant. Addionally, African filmmakers require access to the complete market value chain, including fesvals, cinemas, airlines, television, and video-on-demand plaorms. It is crucial to cater to African audiences, especially considering the significant youth demographic, which dominates content consumpon worldwide.

Africa's youth is increasingly connected to global entertainment trends, as evident in their following of internaonal programs and engagement on plaorms like Twier. This highlights the importance of not overlooking the global-mindedness of African youth, parcularlyinthefilmandmusicindustries.

The queson of adapng cinema to the African context remains a key topic of discussion. However, Africa represents the biggest opportunity for cinema in the 21st century. The upcoming Africa Cinema summit, taking place in Ghana in November 2023, further emphasizes Ghana's leading role in the industry The summit serves as a plaorm for African investors to seize this opportunity and determine whethertheywilltaketheleadorbeovershadowedby foreigninvestors.

Content creaon in Africa, including live-acon producon, animaon, and gaming, is supported by producon studios on the connent, including those in Ghana. Le Arts, a video game house, showcases the connent's potenal by serving as a consultant and designer for global game developer Riot Games. However, despite their capabilies, many local studios face challenges in securing investments to expand and meet industry demands. This situaon raises concerns about the potenal loss of skilled talent to other regions.

Nigeria's success in local film and music investment, which led to the rise of global giants, serves as a valuable reference for local investors across the connent.

It is crucial to address key quesons regarding the preparaon of African youth for upcoming opportunies and the existence of a comprehensive plan. The implicaons of the youth populaon growth for Africa and the rest of the world need to be understood. Will businesses acvely seek to recruit from Africa to fill the emerging gaps? Is our educaonal system adequately equipped to train a workforce capable of capitalizing on the potenal global shortages resulng from mass rerements? Are local investors sufficiently knowledgeable about the sector?Whatfactorshinderlocalinvestment,andhow can they be confronted? Addionally, why do African governments connue to overlook a sector that has the potenal to generate much-needed employment opportunies amidst the unemployment crisis? How can schools play a role in training the required workforce for the creave sector, parcularly in film, which demands specialized skills? There are notable gaps in supporng areas like entertainment law and setdesignthatneedtobeaddressed.

The rise in Africa's youth populaon poses potenal downsides if unemployment levels persist or worsen, considering the current high rates of youth unemployment in many African countries. With a median age below 25 and unemployment rates exceeding 60% in most African naons, the presence of an energec but jobless youth populaon becomes a significant risk for sociees and a cause for concern amonggovernmentsandcorporateleaders.

The Africa Connental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) presents a promising development. However, it is crucial to recognize that internal trade and growth opportunies for indigenous businesses can only be fully realized if urgent aenon is given to crical areas such as access to funds and loans, interest rates, facilitaon of travel between African states, and enhancement of technical skills training. These issues demand immediate aenon to leverage the potenalbenefitsoftheAfCFTA.

The rise of AI in Africa is an area of interest, but the slow adopon of efficient AI may have its advantages. Africa needs to connue relying on human labour whilealsokeepingpacewiththeAIrevoluon.

According to the 2021 Unesco report on Film and Audiovisual in Africa, the creave sector is the largest employer on the connent with low barriers to entry The sector currently employs 5 million people and generates $5 billion in income for the connent. However, the report suggests that these numbers could potenally reach 20 million and $20 billion respecvely

It's evident that the creave sector can play a crucial role in addressing the unemployment challenges faced by African youth. This requires immediate aenon from policymakers and corporate enes as asoluonprovider

The key is to maintain a creave mind-set and seek innovave soluons to generate sustainable wealth within the connent. It is essenal for policymakers andbusinessleaderstotakeaconpromptly,asmeis oftheessence.

THE IMPORTANCE AND CONTRIBUTION OF AGRIBUSINESS TO THE CREATION OF WEALTH, IN THE CONTEXT OF GHANA'S 4TH INDUSTRIAL ERA OF GROWTH.

The contribuon of Agriculture to the economic development of Africa and Ghana cannot be underesmated. Of course, this is true for the whole world Agriculture is what brought the ancestors of the enre human race in the East African savannah some 12,000 years ago from the toils and dangers of hunter gathering to the great civilizaon we see today Indeed, Agriculture provided the impetus that promoted large scale human cooperaon and moved humankind from living in small bands of up to 100 people to large metropolis and subsequently to the formaon of city states, naons, kingdoms, and empires. It's our quest to develop agriculture in the Nile Valley that brough in its wake the world's first civilizaon The Nile Valley was and is sll characterized by prolonged drought and occasional heavy flooding. This scarcity of water and occasional flooding from the Nile Valley planted in the minds of our ancestors the need to come together to construct dams. This gradual mobilizaon of individual human bands to control the raging flood waters in the Nile Valley for agricultural purposes gave humankind its firstmajorcivilizaon–TheEgypanCivilizaon.

Since the Agrarian revoluon, which was praccally started and invented by Africans, the world has gone through three major industrial revoluons as shown here. Sadly, Africans, the inventors of the world's first large scale revoluon failed to take acve part in these

Daniel Asare-Kyei, PhD. Chief executive officer, Esoko daniel@esoko.com / www.esoko.com

modernrevoluons.

s t The 1 industrial revoluon was shaped by mechanizaon and steam engines The second industrial revoluon was ushered in by electricity which enabled mass producon and assembly lines. The third industrial revoluon was powered by automaon, computers, and electronics. It must be noted that, at the heart of all these revoluons were a big elephant lurking at the background called “Technology”

This technological magical wand is now ushering in an th even more powerful revoluon called the 4 Industrial Revoluon (4IR). The 4IR is being shaped by rapid advancements in Arficial Intelligence (AI), machine learning,blockchain,InternetofThings(IoT)etc.

What this means is that for an agribusiness to th contribute to significant wealth creaon in Ghana's 4 Industrial era of Growth, these 4IR technologies of AI, IoT, Block Chain and Big Data must be harnessed, developed, and incorporated in all facets of agricultural development and along the agribusiness value chain. Big Data, IoT, AI and Block Chain are moving into Agriculture in a big way and we if we fail to harness the powers of these technologies we must as wellforgetaboutusingagribusinesstocreatewealth.

Our agriculture is sll saddled with all the elements that our ancestors invented to usher in the Agrarian revoluon. The use of donkeys and animal drawn implements to ll the soil, the use of cutlasses and matchets to clear the weeds and the use of buckets to fetch water to irrigate crops were all major tools invented some 6000 years ago and yet these are the st same tools that our farmers are using in the 21 century. These tools can not in any way create wealth fromagricultureforthemodernmanandwoman.

To illustrate why these basic tools have lost their relevance in today's agriculture, see the graph below, Africa's populaon was just 100Miillion at the turn of st the 1 Industrial revoluon. Now, our populaon is set to hit 3.5B by the turn of the century It's therefore obvious that the tools that fed 100M people in 1800 can not feed 3.5B people in just 77 growing seasons fromnow less than two hectares in size Incomes of these Smallholder Farmers (SHFs) remain stubbornly low, largely due to low producvity levels resulng from threats of increasingly climate variability and droughts and economic stressors such as high cost of purchased inputs, lack of access to credit, limited access to mechanizaon services as well as high post-harvest losses and lack of market informaon on the value of theircrop,amongotherfactors.

The Government's Planng for Food and Job program and other iniaves are changing the narraves, but we sll have a long way to go. Among the reasons for low input usage are the high costs of inputs and lack of access to capital to procure inputs. Only 40% of Ghanaian adults over 15 years old have bank accounts and those with formal savings schemes are esmated to be only 19%. A mere 8% of rural households in Ghana had access to credit for financing agriculture and crop and life insurance programs that could make these poor farmers more resilience in the face of these climac,economic,andsocialstressorsandthreatsare virtuallynon-existent.

To change these negaves and ensure that agriculture indeed contributes to wealth creaon, we must embrace the 4IR in all its forms. Let's see how these technologies can change the face of smallholder agriculture in Ghana with just one example of Big Data, IoTandAI.

Big Data deals essenally with extremely large data sets that may be explored and analyzed computaonally to show paerns, trends, and associaons, especially relang to human behavior anditsinteraconswiththephysicalenvironment.

Technology is moving into agriculture in a big way and it's moving with the speed of light. Before we delve into how technology is going to change the face of Agriculture around the world including Ghana, let's look at some of the numbers of Ghana's agricultural sector.

In Ghana, the agricultural sector has been a major driver of poverty reducon and dominates the livelihoods of rural households Although its contribuon to our GDP has been waning over the years from over 54% in the 2000's to 21% in 2021, it is sll the major employment source. 71% of rural households are engaged in agricultural acvies Agricultural land area in Ghana constutes 69.1% of the total land area; however, only 57.6% of the arable land is currently culvated and the potenal for growth is enormous. About 90% of farm holdings are

In Agriculture, big data will be used to beer understand farmer's behavior in relaon to the crops he grows and field condions Measuring field condions such as soil moisture, nutrients, PH, temperature and rainfall and triangulang that with prices of inputs and outputs will be revoluonary in changing how farmers use labour, buy inputs and opmize their producon pracces with the objecve of opmizing profits and increasing income This computaonal outcome from Big Data combined with AI will change the way we farm, harvest crops, sell and th even eat the harvested crop. Indeed, the 4 industrial revoluon is a data revoluon and the future is going to be owned by those who have the data and those whocanmakeuseofthedata.

To bring it home and take cursory tour into the future of Big Data and Agriculture we see this scenario. st Within the 21 century, to promote sustainable agriculture, a completely digized farmer will have his farmland mapped with Mobile GIS even before the crops are seeded by drones or planted by robots which also apply ferlizers, crop protecon chemicals and weedicides during planng. Such a farmer will have sensors mounted at different secons of the farm that track soil moisture, land surface temperate as well as air temperature, relave humidity etc. This data is fed in real-me to the farmer's mobile phone through what has become known as the Internet of things and powerful algorithms running at the background with AI engines computes paerns, reveal trends and show crop growth anomalies. The whole farm becomes modelled on the farmer's hands and the farmer can remotely control crop growth based on the real- me data fed to his mobile phone. Whenever, a secon of the farm shows signs of water stress or nutrient scarcityorevenpestordiseaseinfestaon,thefarmers is alerted in real-me through powerful algorithms analyzing all these “big data” and recommend appropriate soluon. Such a recommendaon is site specific and take into consideraons the potenal marketvalueofthecrop,costofinputsetc.andstateof the environmental condions. The farmer could even automate a response mechanism that sends signals to roboc controls to move to the exact locaon and fix the problem either by applying ferlizers or water or control pests and diseases. It's such preciseness of recommendaons enabled by Big Data that eventually makes agriculture sustainable and profitable even to thesmallholderfarmerculvangsoybeaninTolon.

Upon harvesng, the completely digized farmer could be operang in a closed ecosystem with idenfiedoff-takersinastructuredmarketsystem.The farmerispaidthroughasmartcardthatisalsolinkedto the producon informaon which opmizes selling prices and help the farmer negoate beer with the offtakers.Thefarmermaybepaiddigitallythroughthe smart card or have the money sent to his mobile wallet. In a cashless ecosystem, the farmer never handles cash but can order for the next season's inputs through the same card system. The farmer walks to the nearest financial instuon, shows his smart card and the banking officer who knows lile about agriculture could swipe the farmer's card onto its data system to reveal the farmer's credit score. The digized farmer is given credit and a series of noficaons are sent to input companies via SMS & Voice, who delivers the farmersinputs.

Ulmately, Ghana's rural folks who currently are not integrated into the formal economy becomes fully digitally and financially included. This is the means by which the whole society gets lied out of poverty and then we can say indeed, agriculture is the mainstay of the economy because 71% of our rural compatriots who are engaged in this sector can now be tracked by tax authories whilst other service provides target them to sell a whole range of consumer goods and services.

The possibilies of big data powered by large algorithms in promong sustainable agriculture is endless and even at this stage, our finite minds cannot fathomallthepossibiliesthatmayexist.

Commodity value chains present one of the best low hanging fruits to leverage technology to create massive wealth for our country. Ghana sll spends some $2B annually to import what I call “the crical 4 commodies” – rice, poultry, wheat, and sugar. Along the value chains of these commodites are massive business opportunies from producon & mechanizaon, aggregaon, and post-harvest terminalto warehousing to logiscs and valueaddion to markeng. We need to leverage the 4IR technolgoes to unleash the latest potenal inherent in these commodiestocreatethewealththatweneed.

To go back to the story of industrial revoluons. Having missed the first three industrial revoluons, we need to embrace this new age with religious zealousness. It doesn't maer whether you believe in it or not. As Africans, we gave the world its first civilizaon and even went ahead to populate the enre unknown places of planet earth. Somehow, we folded our hands and watched the first three industrial revoluons passed by, choosing not to believe in them but rather pung our faith in needless religious ceremonies. we cannot afford to miss this train for it may well be the lasttrain.

All is not lost, neither is it too late. There are many young Ghanaians and Africans in general who now believe that the future lies in data and digizaon. We are now moving towards the knowledge economy and no longer believe in the raw material-based economy based on manpower and which were callously enforcedbyourcolonizers.

These young people who are starng businesses in what we know call “Agritech” companies need to be given direct support through deliberate Government programs designed to encourage further innovaon and scalability. These start-ups as well as all the growth stage companies like my own needs to run Esoko faster than we have ever done to keep up with the rapidly evolving mantra of digizaon and data science. In doing so, we must learn to cooperate and work together. And we must remember that st agribusiness cannot creae 21 century wealth with the same tools our ancestors used to usher in the Agrarian revoluon.