In June 2012, I wrote an article titled ‘Why Most Africa Celebrities/Entertainers Are BROKE’ and stated among other things that; “when it comes to most of our Africa celebrities (Entertainers), the term ‘celebrity’ is identical to purely being ‘famous’ and substantially broke”.
I continued that; “Becoming famous which is the first aspect of being a celebrity is not very difficult, the real work is being able to make a living or create some sort of wealth from the fame (popularity).
For a person to be able to create wealth within any society, such a person must perfectly understand the market structures and the principles that control the market-forces and consumers.
Most of our Africa celebrity entertainers remain broke because they do not understand the market they find themselves within; they are buying into concepts and practices which make money in western markets but do not make anything in their own markets.”
I’ve just come across an interview Ghanaian TV personality-Delay recently had with NewsOne and to a greater extent, she supports my observation above and have decided not to become one of the many BROKE African celebrities.
Delay is reported to have said that the concept of celebrity in Ghana is a “make believe’ and when asked about her dwindling fame, she had this to say;
“Maybe you are saying so because I have stopped painting my hair in blue and cruising in flashy cars to shows and posing for the cameras. As you grow in this showbiz stuff, you get to realize that fame, on its own, is not the most important thing. It can neither buy kenkey nor land. When maturity starts to set in, you focus more on the business part of the creative arts industry rather than the show aspect,”.
She continued: “I don’t want to be a famous celebrity who depends on salary from my boss or whose source of living is dependent on how much a director decides to pay me for a role. I’ve gong past that stage. I want to be an independent woman, an entrepreneur who employs people and pays them salaries.”
“I want to be real so when I step out, I don’t fake my status and pretend to belong when indeed, I am in someone’s pocket. That is when I would be worth celebrating, but not what we have in this country where we celebrate people simply because they have worn extravagant attire or because they are driving a second-hand Range Rover and pretending it is custom-made. I don’t have money yet but I am getting there because I am working very hard at it.”
Exactly…In Africa, being famous is pretty a waste of time since you can’t solely make money from that. You will need to have a product or a strong brand to go with your fame to make some real cash.
I hope the many of our famous but broke celebrities get to read this…
READ ALSO: Why Most Africa Celebrities/Entertainers Are BROKE
That was a very sensible thing she said. I still dont like her though 😀
True talk delay some people will foolishly want to be famous and still be hungry
If its Delay talking sense like this then I’m humbled.thank God she’s coming down from her high horse.
I’ve always known Delay as a woman with broad entrepreneurship ideas; she doesn’t follow the crowd either.