The Minister for Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Abla Dzifa Gomashie, has called for stronger regional cooperation to ensure fair remuneration for creative professionals and the return of African cultural properties to their countries of origin.
She made the call in Accra when she welcomed policymakers, intellectual property experts, copyright administrators and cultural heritage stakeholders to technical meetings on the validation of a study on private copying remuneration in the ECOWAS region and the work of the regional committee on the restitution of cultural properties.
Welcoming the team on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama, the Minister said the meetings were important for strengthening intellectual property protection, supporting the creative economy and preserving Africa’s cultural heritage.
Ms Gomashie stressed that musicians, writers, filmmakers, performers, visual artists and other creative professionals deserved fair recognition and appropriate compensation for their intellectual contributions.
Drawing on her experience as a creative artist, she highlighted the need for effective private copying remuneration systems to address the reproduction of copyrighted works for personal use, particularly in an era of rapid technological advancement and widespread access to digital devices.
She noted that the creative economy continued to contribute to national development, employment creation, cultural identity and regional cooperation, making it necessary to establish mechanisms to protect the rights and livelihoods of creators.
The Minister also underscored the importance of returning African cultural properties to their countries of origin, describing cultural heritage as an essential part of the continent’s identity and development.
The ECOWAS representative, Dr Roland Kouakou, said the meetings would help advance regional efforts to protect intellectual property and recover cultural properties.
He noted that the study on private copying remuneration, financed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), would be validated and extended to ECOWAS member states.
According to him, the deliberations were expected to produce a roadmap for urgent actions, an action plan for the restitution of cultural properties and a validated document on private copying remuneration.
He also recalled previous regional efforts towards restitution, including the adoption of a political declaration by African leaders and the validation of guidelines on the return of cultural properties in Accra in July 2023.
The WIPO representative reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to listening to member states and working with them to advance cultural development, intellectual property protection and economic growth.
The meetings are expected to strengthen regional collaboration and establish practical measures to safeguard the rights of creators while advancing the recovery and preservation of Africa’s cultural heritage.
Source: PR Unit, MoTCCA
