Grammy Africa: Ghana not part of founding members - Dentaa Amoateng

The CEO of GUBA Enterprise, Lady Dentaa Amoateng MBE, has revealed that Ghana is currently not among the nations listed as founding members of the pioneering Grammy Africa initiative.

The Recording Academy launched an initiative to support music creators in the Middle East and Africa.

Partnering with local Ministries of Culture and stakeholders, the initiative, GRAMMY Africa, will offer platforms, advocacy, and specialized training through the online platform GRAMMY GO.

It aims to celebrate the regions' musical heritage and encourage cross-cultural exchanges within the global music community.

However, in a conversation with Andy Dosty on Hitz FM's Daybreak Hitz, Lady Dentaa elaborated that Ghana missed out on becoming a founding member due to unmet prerequisites set by the Recording Academy.

While Ghanaian artistes remain eligible for award nominations, the country will not host related events.

The founding members include Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa.

"It is somewhat unfortunate, but the agreement that was supposed to be signed did not happen, so currently, those four countries will be able to host the Grammys. It doesn't stop any artist from being nominated, but it is just the hosting and other benefits that the country will have. Currently, Ghana is not a part of it," she said.

She blamed the situation on the lack of resources and requirements that Ghana lacked, saying, "I believe it concerns resources and a few things that the country will need to be part of it, which I cannot disclose on the radio."

Despite this setback, Lady Dentaa noted that the door hasn't closed entirely on this opportunity.

She revealed that Ghana, alongside Ivory Coast, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and meeting the remaining criteria would secure their position as founding members, along with additional opportunities.

Discussing the significance of Grammy Africa for the continent’s creative industries, the GUBA Enterprise head said this has the potential to unlock various business prospects for Africans.

"It means a whole lot because when you look at the Grammy Awards and the 90 awards that they give, they cannot recognize the entirety of Africa's music; the variety of music that we do on the continent is vast. It comes with different languages, among other aspects, and this gives us the opportunity to celebrate Africa.

“When you look at the Latin Grammys that have been going on for 25 years, it is dedicated to celebrating Latin music, and so to have our own, it will afford us cultural recognition, it will promote us on the global stage, and it will create economic opportunities, industrial growth, and boost tourism," she noted.

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