Executive Director of Big Ideaz Consult event company, Kojo Poku, has stated that no company in Ghana currently spends up to $1 million a year on event sponsorship.

Speaking during a panel discussion on Joy FM, Kojo Poku explained that over the years, Ghana has lost most of its big brands, and the few that remain are no longer investing heavily in the events industry.

“Over the last how many years we’ve lost all the big brands in Ghana. As we speak right now, there’s no brand in Ghana that even spends more than a million dollars the whole year on events,” he said.

Kojo pointed out that the biggest sponsorship deal in the country right now is between Telecel and Charterhouse for the organisation of the Telecel Ghana Music Awards (TGMA). He explained that this sponsorship works well because it’s a long-term partnership.

“The biggest sponsorship anybody can get is what Charterhouse is getting for TGMA, because they have a long-term partnership,” he stated.

He also highlighted the difficulty of securing meaningful support from sponsors.

Citing an example, he explained that even when one presents a well-planned event with a budget of around $2 million, the amount typically offered by sponsors is only a small fraction of what is actually needed.

“You go to a company that you have an event that has an expenditure budget of let’s say about two million. You go to a sponsor looking for some sponsorship and what you get is like one thousandth of your expenditure,” he stated.

Kojo explained that the rest of the money needed for such events cannot be recovered through ticket sales, merchandise, concessions, television rights, or social media marketing.

“There’s no way that you’re going to make that excess in ticket sales. You’re not going to make that in concessions. You’re not going to make that in merchandise sales. You’re not going to get that on TV right. You’re not going to get that in affiliate marketing. You’re not going to get that on your social media postings. So where are you going to make the rest from?” he asked.

He believes these financial challenges are the reason many creative people in Ghana are unable to keep their events running.

According to him, many event organisers launch exciting ideas, but after doing it once or twice, they are forced to stop due to lack of funding.

“That’s why you have people start very very nice events with very nice concepts. You know and then you run it once, twice that’s it, they stop,” he said.

Kojo Poku added that the Ghana Music Awards, organised by Charterhouse, would not exist without the Telecel partnership.

He emphasised that the awards show does not rely on ticket sales to operate, so if Telecel pulls out, the event could collapse.

“If Telecel pulls out of TGMA right now, we won’t have TGMA anymore, because Charterhouse does not rely on ticket sales to do TGMA. So, if today Telecel stops sponsoring TGMA, we won’t have a music award in Ghana again,” he added.

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