The proposed Ghana National Cathedral project which is currently under construction in Accra, once completely and fully operational, is projected to raise in excess of about USD$ 95,000,000.00 million in revenue within the first five years of operation.
Conceived by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as a physical embodiment of unity, harmony and spirituality, the Cathedral will be the nation’s ceremonial landmark, Ghana’s ‘mother church’, where all denominations are welcomed to gather, worship and celebrate in spiritual accord.
Scope of project
The project, now referred to as the complex comprising three projects; The National Cathedral of Ghana, The Biblical Gardens of Africa, and The Bible Museum of Africa, will have 10 revenue streams, out of which the projected revenue is to be raised.
The revenue streams are; admissions into the Cathedral, the Museum, the Biblical Gardens, memberships, restaurant, coffee café, event catering, gift shop, meeting space rental, special events, on-line merchandise and on-line education.
Revenue estimates
According to projections made by the Secretariat of the Board of Trustees, the National Cathedral is expected to receive about 400,000 visitors annually from Africa, other parts of the world and from within Ghana.
It is estimated that 30% of the visitors (120,000) will be foreigners and 70% (280,000) will be people living and working in Ghana.
Out of the 70%, the Trustees indicate that 40% (160,000) will be adults, 20% (80,000), will be children between the ages of 10 -17, and 10% (40,000) will be what they have termed ‘groups’.
It also projected that adults (from outside Ghana) at an entrance fee of $15.00 multiplied by the estimated 120,000 visitors annually, will generate some USD $1,800,000.00.
On the domestic front, the secretariat projects that the 40% (160,000) adults in Ghana at a fee of USD$ 8.00, will see the National Cathedral generating about USD $1,280,000.00.
The 20% (80,000), children between the ages of 10 -17, at a fee of USD $6, will generate USD $ 480,000.00 annually and the 10% (40,000), referred to as groups, at a fee of USD $10.00, will bring to the Cathedral some USD $ 400,000.00.
Special Museum exhibits are also projected to bring in about USD$ 2,400,000.00, bringing the annual projected revenue target through attendance alone to USD$6,360,000.00.
Managers of the facility estimate that out of 400,000 Museum attendance, 100,000 other paid admissions and 10,000 non-attendance buyers, they will be able to raise USD$1,080,000.00 from the gift shop and food revenue.
Revenue via the restaurant and coffee café is also estimated at USD$ 1,770,000.00 as well as a projected revenue of USD$1,601,600.00 for all other catering service, bringing the total annual revenue from the gift shop and all other food services to USD$ 451,600.00 annually.
Museum membership
Museum memberships globally, are very popular and have been used to create a customer loyalty program as well as a good source of regular income for several museums across the globe.
Officials of the National Cathedral plan to use the pre-opening time of three years, to raise USD$12,000,000.00, by offering a limited number of “Founding Memberships”; “Presidential Founding Memberships”; and “Chairman Founding Membership Circle”.
Overall, the National Cathedral estimates that within one year of operation, it will generate about UD$ 23,618,606.00 and by the 5th year, its revenue will hit USD $95,555,419.00.
Birthing of the vision
On March 6, 2017, President Akufo-Addo outdoored his vision for the construction of a National Cathedral to be sited close to the State House in Accra.
At the ground-breaking ceremony, the President described the proposed cathedral as an inter-denominational worship project which is also a thanksgiving gesture to God for the blessings God has bestowed on Ghana on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.
The architectural and structural design of the National Cathedral was done by British-Ghanaian Architect Sir David Adjaye, the founder and principal of Adjaye Associates.
It will house chapels and baptistery, a 5000-seater main auditorium which will be expandable to a 15,000 seater capacity for national events and celebrations, among other facilities.
President Akufo-Addo on 5 March 2020, laid the foundation stone which was imported from the Israeli capital of Jerusalem, the Holy Land, at the exact spot where the altar of the Cathedral will be situated when the building is completed to signify the commencement of constructions works.
The three-fold rationale
In his address at the ceremony leading to the laying of the foundation stone on 5 March 2020, the President identified three main reasons behind his decision to mobilize support for the construction of the Cathedral.
Firstly, the President said, “since gaining our freedom from the colonial power sixty-three years ago on the 6th of March 1957, Ghana has so far been spared civil war, famine and epidemics.
“We are certainly no better than the other nations in our neighbourhood who have been confronted with these challenges. I believe it is by the grace of God that we have been preserved and sustained.”
“The construction of the Cathedral will be an act of thanksgiving to the Almighty for His blessings, grace, favour and mercies on our nation,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Secondly, President Akufo-Addo had noted, “71% percent of the Ghanaian people adhere to the Christian religion grouped under the various persuasions of the Christian Faith.
“The interdenominational National Cathedral will help unify the Christian community and thereby help promote national unity and social coercion,” the President said.
Lastly, President Akufo-Addo noted that he made a pledge to Almighty God that if He was gracious enough to make him President, he would help build a cathedral to His glory and honour. “I am determined to redeem this pledge,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
