Personal Principles vs. Business

What is the issue?

In Ghana, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) prohibits celebrities from influencing certain products like alcohol; knowing the influence these celebrities have on the people, precisely the youth or fans.

Though some have accepted the ban in good fate, others opine that it is unfair to these celebrities since such deals serve as a source of livelihood to most of them especially after the festive seasons are over.

Already, artists do not make much from their work because of the shambolic structures governing the entertainment industry and the works of these artists. Also, Event promoters in Ghana do not get sponsorship easily from these products companies which mostly serve as the backbone of such entertainment events. The rules of the FDA also affected media houses after banning them from promoting selected products like alcoholic beverages at certain times of the day, making media houses lose out on their Golden goose.

Why is this issue worth discussing?

In spite of all the protest against some of the rules of the FDA from celebrities like Wendy Shay, some media men and event promoters, actress and brand influencer, Nana Ama McBrown, has publicly declared that “No amount of money will make me promote alcohol and bleaching creams.”

Her decision was purely based on upholding her personal principles. While some support her completely since they are cognizant of the ramifications these two products have on human beings in the future. Others have also disagreed with her decision opposing that, the people will patronize it anyways so why not let go off personal feelings in order to get the job done.

This topic has stirred up various conversations mostly around personal principles and business.

Full pocket or personal principles?

Most people have principles governing their everyday interactions and dealings, however, these principles seem to be overshadowed by the needs of a bigger group like company or job requirements.

While some are willing to sacrifice such principles for the greater good, others are resolved on upholding their integrity with little or no regard to the repercussions of their decisions.

The status, either financially or in a place of influence, would also have a great impact on this decision. To exemplify, Nana Ama Mcbrown is one of the richest artists in Ghana with her numerous brand ambassadorial deals making her influential, her decision to choose principle over money won’t affect her much. As compared to another who is neither financially liberated nor on top of the hierarchy in their company or business, such a person’s decisions will have palpable effects on them as they may lose their jobs or bankrupt shortly.

This calls for introspection on some principles one would compromise on and for what purpose?

5 Years Afronation Is A Big Step for Ghana

What is the issue?

The internationally recognized event, Afronation, was hosted in Ghana in 2019, putting a plethora of stars on one stage for an intensive unforgettable four-day experience. The successful event which hosted various cultures from around the world caused a significant improvement in Ghana’s tourism sector.

Not long after the event Ghanaians were informed that Ghana’s government has signed a deal with Afronation to host the festival for five years consecutively. While some see this step as a big deal for Ghana because of its associated benefits, others opine that the government of Ghana has given taxpayers money to foreigners instead of partnering with Ghanaian event organizers like Charterhouse.

Why is this worth discussing?

In a recent publication, a popular Ghanaian artiste manager, Bulldog, has joined the wagon of those saying the government of Ghana has given taxpayers money to foreigners.

However, like George Quaye, Nabil Alhassan, and other Ghanaians who see the immense benefit of these deal, rep from Muse Africa, Nana Yaw Wiredu, has debunked the point of Bulldog listing some benefits Ghanaians will receive from the deal with Afronation to buttress his point.

What are some of the benefits Ghana stands to get in this five year deal with Afronation?

Socially, the four-day event was an accurate example of cultural exchange for the country considering the number of nations in the country at the time. Exposing both Ghanaians and foreigners to new cultures. It also served as a platform to network with new people new businesses and a perfect avenue to sell businesses to other people from around the world.

Economically, the influx of foreigners into the country had a major effect on its economic value. Not forgetting the foreign exchange associated with that. Small, medium and large scale businesses thrived at the season. Hotels, guest houses, homes, shops, drinking spots, drivers, and sellers had a field day with all these people patronizing services and products from them. The show also employed hundreds of Ghanaians a day which included vendors, those involved in ticketing, and other facets of the show, including the hired Ghanaian labor force who built everything about the event from the ground up.

Looking at international relations, a show like this in Ghana is an excellent facelift for the country. Synonymous with Dubai’s government using powerful platforms to encourage travels to the country, which has lifted the image of the country making it a hub for travels and businesses. Events like Afronation use all the major media platforms in their promotion which directly is a promotion and projection of Ghana on all these platforms to the rest of the world. This trickles down to Ghanaians leaving outside the country and how other powerful nations perceive Ghana. That’s all in spite of the other indirect benefits that come with having events like these in the country. For example, not long ago Trump announced the suspension of all Nigerian immigrant visas, or adding 5 countries to be ban from obtaining US visas, Ghana seem to be immune from such occurrences. This could be a benefit Ghana is enjoying for having strong media throw the spotlight on the country.

The event also served as a yardstick and a case study for other events in Ghana to learn new things to improve the quality of events organized and held by Ghanaians.

Much won’t be said about the tourism sector since it saw the most growth because of Afronation.

Why Use Expensive Artistes When DJs With A Hype Man Can Give The Same Experience?

What is the issue?

Over the years, most Ghanaians and musical concert followers have been complaining about the subpar performance of some Ghanaian artists on stage. While most of them charge thousands of cedis to show up on stage, the quality of performance doesn’t correlate with the amounts they charge.

Patrons of such events don’t get any new experiences at events since most artists in Ghana do not give any creative performance on stage, nor even perform their songs with a live band for a different feel. In most cases, artistes come on stage with a lot of entourage who are neither backup singers nor dancers, these people crowd the stage leaving little or no room for the artist to utilize the stage.

As if that was not enough, these artists end up miming their songs the entire performance for some few minutes, get tired and leave the singing to those in the auditorium while they scream “minti o minti oo, Osi den osi den.”

Staunch followers and patrons of such shows are able to predict performances and even the order of songs of some artists on various stages.

Why is this worth discussing?

In a publication by Ghana Web, CEO of Media Excel productions, Kwesi Ernest has called out Ghanaian artists to justify their high charges for their shows. Like others, Ernest does not see the correlation between the high charges of artists and their low standard performance.

To corroborate this, the Director of Editorial of Muse Africa, Nana Yaw Wiredu, in a recent interview explained that event organizers should be blamed for putting such hit artists on stage for them to deliver so poorly. According to him, the current crop of events in Ghana rides on the backbone of artists with hit songs at that moment. So patrons are convinced to come to the show to see these artists instead of convincing them to come and have a good show in spite of if the artist billed has a recent hit song or not.

What is the way forward?

To Nana Yaw Wiredu, event organizers should be strategic in billing artists for their shows, since most of them end up billing the same group of people for all events despite how tired they may be.

He also advised that instead of paying huge sums of money to hit song artists to come and jump on stage and scream, why not get a DJ to play the songs just like they do at events and then get a hype man who would be doing the screaming, jumping and boosting the morale of the people at the event for less the price they give to these artists?

He further said that, if event organizers decide to use hit song artists for events, they should blend them with other artists who don’t have hit songs at the moment or those who won’t be so busy that season so they fill in the loopholes created by these tired hit song artists.