Ghana's Football Success Having Economic Impact Beyond Sport  | Voice of America - English
As Ghana's Black Stars football team progresses into the next round of the World Cup, Ghanaians are not only celebrating the performance of the only African team remaining in the tournament, businesses in Ghana are also looking forward to meeting their annual targets.
The web offset machines at the Graphic Communication Group get up to speed, as workers of the printing department get ready to produce Tuesday's edition of the Graphic Sports. The twice weekly paper is one of the state-owned media company's five titles. Originally 12 pages, it has increased to 24 pages since the World Cup tournament started, and circulation has doubled, according to company spokesman Albert Sam. "And it is taking a lot of advert [advertisements] now, of course, color adverts," he said. "In the past, we were finding it difficult in getting people to even advertise in the Graphic Sports. But with this competition, we are making some headway." It is not only the sports paper that is raking in good revenue for the company. Advertising in its flagship publication, the , published since 1950, has also gone up by 40 percent, forcing the company to add eight more pages to the paper. Sam is hoping for more business as the Black Stars of Ghana play Brazil Tuesday, in the world competition's Round of 16. "We are making some significant gains, so far, as this competition is concerned. We know that," he said. "Even if the Black Stars, which we are sure are able to qualify for the quarterfinals at the expense of Brazil, then we are going to make inroads in the business." The Graphic Communication Group is one of the few profitable state-owned institutions in Ghana, and Sam is confident of a prosperous year for the company. "I think we will definitely meet our targets, and it will mean more revenue for the company, more expansion and then it will also mean that service will improve, conditions of service for employees will also be better," Sam said. Some advertising agencies say they have being receiving phone calls from their clients asking for an increase in the placement of their products in the media, since the Black Stars qualified for the second round of the World Cup. Communication and beverage companies are said to be topping the list of advertisers.