National Cathedral projected to generate US$83 million within five years – Secretariat

The construction of the yet-to-be completed National Cathedral is estimated to generate US$83 million in economic tourism revenue within the first three to five years of completion.

According to Dr Paul Opoku-Mensah chief executive of the project’s secretariat, the cathedral’s banquet halls, bible museums, multi-purpose facilities will earn the country substantial revenue.

Making the revelation on Citi TV’s Point of View monitored by GhanaWeb, Dr Opoku Mensah said government intends to use the Cathedral to rake in revenue “beyond just the national level usage to drive tourism international traffic here.”

Already there have been assertions that the project is not of keen interest to the Ghanaian populace as some citizens believe there are pressing issues to be addressed but Opoku-Mensah believes that an edifice like the National Cathedral is essential for nation building.

“All nation-building has these sacred spaces…These are important because that is where the sacred rituals of the nation take place.”

“Why would President Macron of France Macron say the Notre Dame is the epicentre of their national life? He said that because, over time, these sacred spaces really become the spaces around which we have these collective rituals that build that sense of nationhood,” he explained.

He continued, “if you look at the history of our nation-building, Ghana is located within the Judeo-Christian tradition because we were colonized by the English.”

In 2019, the finance minister had initially earmarked the overall cost of the National Cathedral project at US$100 million but that cost has had to shot up to US$200 million due to some extensions have been made and added to the existing plan of the project which has increased the initial budget.

Already government through the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has made a passionate appeal on citizens to donate 100-cedis-a-month in a bid to mobilise support the cause.

The building of the Cathedral which is expected to be completed by March 2024 is in fulfilment of a pledge made by President Akufo-Addo in 2016.