Head of Philanthropy at Afrochella and supermodel, Gifty Boakye has shared highlights of the phenomenal run of the biggest cultural festival in Africa, Afrochella.
Afrochella saw its inaugural event launched in 2017 at the Accra Polo Club, Ghana and since then, what started as just party and vibes in Ghana eventually grew into a vision to promote the African culture and millennial talents – redefining Africa to the world.
For Gifty Boakye, throughout the five years, programming and consistency from the Afrochella team has been inspiring. The winner of Miss Ghana 2022 reflected on the festival’s transformation as she believes it did not only promote music, but visibly portrayed other parts of the African culture to the rest of the world.
“I would say that programming wise, Afrochella has grown exponentially. We moved from just having to feel and jam to the music, food and other things but now we are doing several things where we can curate like different cultures that others haven’t paid attention to so, that they can understand certain things that are unique to Ghana which are done differently in Nigeria or New York or anywhere in the Diaspora,” she told Y 107.9 FM’s Ian Priceless exclusively.
“So, the fact that we have been able to grow more than the festival itself is my highlight of the process. Even this year, we were able to put up the Music museum and that’s important for the culture. it has been refreshing hearing people say we’ve not only been consistent but you know, any time people say something went wrong in the other editions, we tried to fix it up in the next one and that is so wholesome. For the team it’s about planning, execution and delivering on the move. That is how we stay rocking.”
Afrochella 2022 indeed went beyond connecting the diaspora to the rest of the world. It defined culture in every aspect of African history – from putting up a music museum in Accra to promoting millennial talents and hosting dialogues geared to help artistes monetize their craft. It also saw Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty brand touch African soil for the first time. Afrochella gave it all for the last show.
After returning to the El Wak Stadium, Accra for its massive 2-days; the first time in its activations – showrunners surprisingly announced that the 2022 edition was the last of Afrochella – as we know it.
Abdul Karim Abdullah, CEO and Co-founder of Afrochella made this huge announcement after thanking everyone for their attendance and continued support. He left festival-goers stunned, stating “this is the last Afrochella.”
“As we reflect on the past six years, we know that the impact we’ve made on the continent has opened so many eyes and unlocked even more doors to the endless possibilities that Africa has to offer,” he added.
By: Jude Tackie
