According to Dr. Awal Mohammed, Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Ghana no longer hosts Afro Nation, the largest Afrobeats festival in the world.
His remarks follow news that Afro Nation’s plans to host a brand-new edition in Lagos, Nigeria for the first time this year, had been abandoned.
Dr. Awal stated that the concert will still take place in Ghana in an interview conducted on the sidelines of an editors’ forum that was held at the Accra City Hotel on Monday, August 14, 2023. This was in spite of the news that Nigeria will host its version this year.
“Afro Nation has not been taken away from Ghana. We even had a meeting last week. We discussed it. There are certain demands they want and we are trying to look at how to collaborate. It has not been taken yet. But we have alternatives,” he stated.
Ghana will host another Afro Nation event, “most likely. Very likely. This year, over the next three years,” he noted.
Day 2 of Afro Nation 2022, which was meant to be the festival’s grand finale in Accra the previous year, was abruptly ended due to safety concerns.
The event’s headliners, French-Congolese star Dadju, was performing when the development took place. Before him, the show had featured performances by local celebrities Stonebwoy, Camidoh, KiDi, Black Sherif, and Camidoh. The previous evening featured performances by West African artists Gyakie, Kuami Eugene, P-Square, Tiwa Savage, and CKay, South African amapiano star Kamo Mphela, and US rapper Meek Mill.
The event’s scheduled closing acts, British-Nigerian rapper Skepta and Nigerian artists Asake and Rema, were all unable to take the stage.
Meanwhile, prisons are institutions for lawbreakers, but Shatta Wale considers them his home.
In October 2021, the Ghanaian dancehall musician was detained by police after being accused of spreading untrue information.
In a recent interview with TV3, Shatta Wale discussed his time spent in jail, saying that he didn’t feel particularly humbled by the experience because he felt at home there.
The Ghanaian musician claimed that some inmates were glad to see him incarcerated. The ex-convict continues by saying that while he was incarcerated at the Ankaful Medium Prison in the Central Region, he was even given respect and dignity.
