Ghana-Nigeria comparisons are senseless - Fmr French Ambassador to Ghana

Former French Ambassador to Ghana, Anne Sophie Ave, has waded in on the ongoing debate about the impact of the Ghana music industry.

According to her, both countries have good artistes and both do Afrobeats so the comparisons as to which country does better music are senseless. She said this while speaking to Andy Dosty on Hitz FM on August 31.

“You have incredible artists; you have nothing to be envious of or ashamed of; the Nigerians are different, so the comparisons do not make sense. It’s all Afrobeats; let's look at it like Nigerians are paving the way for Africans,” she stated.

Anne Sophie Ave further pointed out that the population of a country should not be the sole measure of success in the music industry. Drawing parallels with countries like Jamaica and Belgium, she highlighted that smaller nations had made significant global impacts through their music.

“When music is good, numbers don't really matter. It helps, though, when you are from a country of 250 million like Nigeria, where it's easy to hit a million and make enough money to go out there, but if you look at Jamaica, they were not in their millions yet their music conquered the world. Even in France, most of our biggest artistes are Belgian,” she highlighted.

She also stressed that promotion and media exposure were essential, transcending national boundaries to reach a broader audience. She also emphasized the importance of local support, involving managers and publishers who could help artists gain recognition both at home and internationally.

“So size doesn't really matter in that respect, it's about promotion, it's about being pushed in the media, not only in Ghana, it's great to use the diaspora everywhere in the world because they are a point of entry but you have to go beyond that and you have to conquer the entire country. It is a matter of being played. So you have to have local managers, and local publishers who would push your songs for you, and that’s how you conquer the world," she stressed.

The French Ambassador's perspective shed light on the global music landscape and the ongoing debate as to the impact of Ghanaian music in the international space as compared to the Nigerians. She encouraged Ghanaian artists to leverage their unique strengths to make a mark on the international stage.


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