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Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah

ACCRA – Ghana plans to create a Ghanaian or African village at the FIFA World Cup to engage tourists and investor interest in Brazil through a series of events and fairs, a senior government official said Wednesday night.

Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, minister of youth and sports, said the West African nation hopes to adequately take advantage of the global sporting event to market and brand its sporting, cultural and economic potentials to attract foreign investments.

He said the ministry plans to also set up ‘Brazil in Ghana Fan Park’ and lively viewing centers in various parts of the country during the season.

“Back in Brazil we are going to have a Ghana or African village,” he said at the launch of media and marketing campaign for the World Cup by television consortium established for this year’s FIFA World Cup events.

“We will have cultural displays and exhibitions so that on the day that we don’t have matches, when we haven’t traveled 900 or thousands of kilometers, we can also relax and watch other matches and create a feeling of home away from home,” he said.

The consortium which is made up of six television stations has acquired the exclusive rights to telecast the World Cup being staged in Brazil.

The group did not only secure the exclusive rights to telecast the Brazil World Cup but also the rights to televise the 2014 FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cup slated for March and August respectively.

The World Cup, a flagship product of FIFA, the world’s football governing body, is the biggest social event on earth and it is the only event that attracts television viewership in excess of two billion people.

Over the period of the World Cup, restaurants, hotels, informal traders, shopping malls will experience better than usual businesses as fans will flock to watch the matches with friends.

Afriyie-Ankrah therefore urged the consortium to be extremely innovative to ignite viewership beginning from now.

“Arguably this is the biggest and great sports property on earth and therefore it is my expectation that the consortium and the private sector will take advantage of this platform and obtain as much mileage as possible to ensure that we maximize the advantages,” said the minister.

He prayed the consortium will ensure that various city streets and corners as well as its people will be transmitted with the World Cup fever for Ghanaians and visitors to have a tremendous football experience.

“We count on you to deliver excellence to our people and I believe that today’s event will mark the catalyst for that to happen,” he said.

The president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Kwesi Nyantakyi, said participating in the live transmission of matches comes at a huge cost to broadcasters and therefore difficult for one broadcaster to bear the cost singlehandedly.

“And that is why I will like to commend the initiative to bring this consortium of broadcasters who will pull resources together to ensure that people who cannot travel to the match venues in Brazil get the opportunity to watch these matches.

“The decision to transmit the matches live to the homes, offices and other places of leisure for people to watch is very much welcomed and commendable,” said Nyantakyi.

Ghana have been drawn in Group G of the FIFA World Cup alongside the United States, Germany and Portugal.

The Black Stars will play their opening Group game against the United States. – Xinhua.