In a bid to develop the human resource capacity of the music industry through training, the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) in partnership with the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI), under the supervision of the School of Performing Arts (SPA), University of Ghana, with sponsorship from the Skills Development Fund (SDF) of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (COTVET) have set up the MUSIGA Academy.
At the launch of the Academy on November 17, 2016 at NAFTI, president of MUSIGA, Mr. Bice Osei Kuffour spoke of the arduous journey the union has been through from conceptualisation of the academy five years ago, to its actualisation.
According to the MUSIGA president, “although we have made various capacity building interventions over the past five years, the decision to establish the MUSIGA Academy certainly ranks as the most impacting”.

“The training seeks to enhance the current skills level of industry players along the entire music production value chain, and at the end of the two week training period, participants in the Academy will receive Certificates of Participation”, Mr. Kuffour said.
Reading a speech on behalf of the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mrs. Elizabeth Ohene-Agyare, the Deputy Chief Director of the Ministry, Mr. Owusu Mensah, said this collaboration between MUSIGA and NAFTI is timely, in that NAFTI is on the verge of being converted into a university, and the MUSIGA Academy will be an integral part of the Music Production Department of the new university, to ensure the sustainability of the Academy.
He added that, “concerns have been raised about the level of professionalism in the music industry, and the MUSIGA Academy is expected to address these concerns”.
According to the Minister, “the Ministry under her leadership is determined to contribute meaningfully to the development of the music industry and Creative Arts sector as a whole”.
Speaking at the launch of the Academy, Rector of NAFTI, Prof. Linus Abraham, said, “kudos to MUSIGA. I believe that this vision results from the realisation that music performance as a profession these days is more than simply talent. It takes sustained training in performance and stagecraft, modern methods of marketing, music theory and composition work, and skills in current technological trends in music creation and engineering to rise above petty music production to achieve a talent of modern global proportion”.

Representative of UNESCO, Mr. Carl Ampa, said at the launch, “faced with high levels of youth unemployment, rapidly changing labour markets, technological advancement, globalisation, and persistent social inequalities and tensions, many governments are prioritising the development of skills for the world of work through Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The SDF of COTVET’s support to MUSIGA which partners NAFTI is one important example”.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between MUSIGA and NAFTI after the Academy was officially launched, after which all present took a tour of the music production studio for the Academy at NAFTI.

The MUSIGA Academy will provide competence based training in ten areas for industry players, which include core modules of:
• A survey of music in Ghana
• Music theory and musicianship
• Copyright and publishing
• Using ICT for career development