Pollstar (12/19/22)

The second Afro Nation festival plays in Accra, Ghana, on Dec. 29-30, and Afro Nation co-founder Obi Asika and Afro Nation Ghana Executive Producer Ruddy Kwakye detail the event's massive impact on the local live entertainment market. This year's festival will feature the state-of-the-art stage used at Afro Nation Portugal, which has been relocated to Ghana. "I'd love to see the top artists in the world coming in, not just for a one-off, but bringing their real show, the full production, and do four shows in the space of a week," Asika says. He and Kwakye agree that staging the festival in Africa is vital from a cultural viewpoint, especially when considering Ghana's expanding middle class. "The opportunity to leverage that and connect the continent to all these experiences is amazing," Kwakye notes. He adds that shipping the stage to Ghana "has unlocked the market, literally, there are shows being planned because the logistics have arrived. Skills are being transferred from building to security to fencing, instead shipping it from elsewhere. It has changed the game."

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