AS the World Cup fever grips the globe, Ghana’s creative industry is asking an uncomfortable question: has the Black Star Experience, the nation’s flagship cultural tourism project, missed one of its biggest opportunities yet?
The concern is hard to ignore. While countries around the world are scrambling to position themselves for the massive spotlight of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, many in Ghana’s creative sector feel the Black Star Experience has been slow to seize the moment.
When President John Dramani Mahama launched the initiative at the Black Star Square on May 1, 2025, it carried the promise of a new era. Yet, 14 months on, that promise still feels distant because the Black Star, as far as industry players are concerned, remains stubbornly behind the clouds.
For many creatives, the tournament presents the kind of international platform the Black Star Experience was created to exploit. Yet, they argue that Ghana appears to be watching from the sidelines.
Communications professional and tourism consultant, Francis Doku, argued that the Black Star Experience Secretariat should have been at the forefront of coordinating tourism, culture, arts and Brand Ghana activities ahead of the global football spectacle. Instead, there has been little public visibility of any coordinated campaign.
Arts and culture journalist, Kwame Dadzie, did not mince words, saying, "Fourteen months after the launch, Ghana is yet to experience the Black Star. The initiative was built around seven pillars — cinema, music, cuisine, aesthetics, fashion, literature and heritage. The question is: where are they? Which of these pillars has been activated in a way that the public can see and appreciate?," he questioned.
For Kwame Dadzie, the silence surrounding the initiative has become increasingly loud.
“The World Cup should have been a major opportunity to project Ghana to the world through culture and tourism. Other countries are already positioning themselves to benefit from the global attention. We have woefully failed to capitalise on this moment to advance our Experience Ghana agenda.
“This is not the Black Star Experience we were promised. Some of us are losing patience and hope in the concept. The loud silence is worrying."
Popular disc jockey and entertainment entrepreneur, DJ Ashmen, believes the initiative risks losing public confidence if tangible results remain elusive.
“The idea itself remains one of the most exciting cultural policy initiatives Ghana has seen in years. But an idea, no matter how brilliant, cannot create impact on its own. Fourteen months after launch, industry players should not still be asking what exactly is happening.
"If the Black Star Experience is meant to be a 365-day celebration of Ghanaian culture, then people must be able to see, feel and participate in it. Visibility matters. Activation matters.
“The danger is that people may start seeing it as another beautiful concept that never moved beyond the launch stage,” he said.
However, the Black Star Experience Coordinator, Rex Owusu Marfo, popularly known as Rex Omar, has attributed the slow pace of implementation to funding constraints in an earlier interview on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z.
According to him, the secretariat was established after the 2025 national budget had already been presented and approved, meaning no budgetary allocation was made for its operations.
"Most of our planned projects could not be executed because there was no dedicated budget allocation for the secretariat," he explained.
"We came into existence after the budget had been read, so we were not captured in it. As an office under the Presidency, every activity required clearance and that naturally limited what we could do."
Rex Omar said the secretariat, nevertheless, spent 2025 laying critical groundwork for future implementation.
"We used the period to build partnerships, sign memoranda of understanding and put structures in place. Initiatives such as Creative Connect Afrika and Taste the Culture were organised as part of that process."
He disclosed that a budget proposal for 2026 had since been submitted and defended, expressing optimism that the initiative would finally secure the resources required to fulfil its mandate.
"We have done the preparatory work. Once funding becomes available, Ghanaians will begin to see the full vision unfold."
Yet, for many stakeholders, the explanation raises further questions about planning and execution.
