Media personality and entertainment critic Austin Woode has called on the government to bring organisers of Ghana Music Awards schemes across the diaspora under a coordinated framework to help promote Ghanaian music globally.
Speaking on Starr Showbiz with Feeling Daddy on Starr FM on Saturday, August 15, 2026, Mr Woode said the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, together with the Office of the President’s Diaspora Affairs, should consider bringing organisers of Ghana Music Awards UK, Ghana Music Awards Europe, Ghana Music Awards USA and similar initiatives under one umbrella.
He said such a framework would allow government and the various private organisers to develop a common vision for promoting Ghanaian music beyond Ghanaian communities in the diaspora.
“I think that under the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Arts, under the Office of the President, where we have the diaspora and affairs, can we take a decision to bring all these people under one umbrella,” he proposed.
According to him, the organisers could be given a clear national objective of using their platforms to promote Ghanaian music and creative arts internationally over a defined period.
He suggested that the organisers could work towards a five-year plan aimed at positioning Ghanaian music and genres such as highlife, hip-hop, reggae/dancehall and Afrobeats more prominently on the global music scene.
Mr Woode said government support would not necessarily have to begin with direct financial assistance, arguing that institutional and logistical support from Ghanaian diplomatic missions could also help.
“Even if we cannot give monetary support at the start of such a project, we can give institutional support,” he said.
He proposed that Ghanaian high commissions, embassies and ambassadors in countries where the awards are organised could assist with logistics and other forms of support.
Mr Woode said a coordinated approach could also give diaspora-based awards schemes a broader purpose beyond recognising individual musicians.
He argued that organisers should be able to demonstrate what they intend to achieve for Ghanaian music after each awards ceremony, rather than limiting their activities to an annual event.
Using the existing Ghana Music Awards as an example, he noted that the awards had expanded beyond the main ceremony to include workshops, legal services, seminars and nominees’ jams in different parts of Ghana.
He said similar initiatives by diaspora-based awards organisers could help create a more measurable impact on the Ghanaian music industry.
Mr Woode also cited a Ghanaian carnival in Germany, which he said attracted about 20,000 people and featured Ghanaian music, as an example of how Ghanaian music could reach international audiences beyond the Ghanaian diaspora.
He maintained that diaspora-based Ghana Music Awards schemes could play a significant role in this effort if their activities were deliberately structured around promoting Ghanaian music internationally.
According to him, a coordinated five-year strategy could ultimately help position Ghanaian music as a leading musical force from Africa and expand its reach from the continent to the wider world.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
