Don’t Just Give Us Money for Concerts – Sarkodie Challenges Corporate Ghana

Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie has called for a new approach to the relationship between corporate Ghana and the creative industry, urging businesses to move beyond traditional concert sponsorships and build long-term partnerships that create value for both sides.

The rapper made the call when he, together with his management and the production team behind Rapperholic, paid a courtesy visit to the offices of Mobile Money Fintech Ltd (MMF) on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.

The meeting aimed to strengthen the relationship between Sarkodie and MMF ahead of this year’s Rapperholic concert in Kumasi, while also exploring opportunities for a broader partnership between the two sides.

Sarkodie said corporate organisations and creatives should not approach their relationship simply as a transaction where a company provides money for an event and the engagement ends after the programme.

“For a long time, there has been this gap between the corporate and entertainment worlds. It took time for us to understand how important the two can be when they come together to achieve a common goal,” he said.

Explaining why he personally joined the visit, Sarkodie said he wanted to demonstrate that his relationship with MMF should go beyond securing sponsorship for Rapperholic.

“I’m not here in the usual way where we get sponsorship for our show, and that’s it. I’m actually here myself because I think it goes beyond just coming in here to support us,” he said.

The rapper said both sides have objectives that could align to create a partnership that benefits the company, the artiste, and the wider creative ecosystem.

According to Sarkodie, Rapperholic and his other creative projects have specific goals, while MMF also has products and services that it wants to introduce to the Ghanaian public.

“How best do we build our relationship where everyone feels like, ‘I was able to gain something out of this,’ and not just give your money away or give your talent away without necessarily gaining anything?” he asked.

“Today’s conversation, to me, is more about what we could do together and not just limited to Rapperholic,” he added.

Sarkodie further indicated that artistes have plans that extend beyond individual concerts, including tours, album projects, brand initiatives and engagements with different communities.

He therefore wants corporate partnerships to be designed around those wider plans rather than being limited to individual events.

In a separate account of the meeting, Sarkodie stressed that he did not want his relationship with MMF to end with Rapperholic.

“I don’t want it to end with Rapperholic. What does MoMo have in the pipeline? What is your roadmap, and how do we come together to achieve something great?” he stated.

He also proposed that his planned campus tour could provide an opportunity for MMF to engage directly with young people.

Sarkodie explained that the tour could be used to communicate information about the company’s services, including its new MoMo application, while allowing the financial technology company to become part of the artiste’s engagement with students and young audiences.

“I think we have a plan of going on tour as far as the campuses are concerned. So it’s more of me being able to communicate what you guys want to put out there, and also you guys making it possible for us to be on the journey,” he explained.

For MMF, the proposed collaboration is also about reaching a large audience with information on financial services.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Shaibu Haruna, said MMF sees the entertainment industry as an important platform because of its ability to connect businesses with large numbers of Ghanaians.

He explained that MMF has developed financial solutions designed to bring more people into Ghana’s financial ecosystem, but reaching and educating potential users about those services remains important.

“We have developed solutions that solve problems in terms of including the masses in Ghana’s financial ecosystem. And you are also connected with these customers,” Haruna said.

He said MMF’s services have expanded beyond basic mobile-money transactions to include products such as savings, loans, investments and event ticketing.

Haruna argued that artistes with significant audiences can help communicate information about such services in ways that connect with the public.

“Music is a universal language, and we believe that through collaboration with people who have a mass following, we will be able to communicate how people can use our services safely and expose them to the different services that we provide on our platform,” he said.

He also described the relationship between MMF and Ghana’s entertainment industry as part of the company’s contribution to the creative sector.

According to Haruna, Ghanaian music plays an important role in how the country is recognised internationally, alongside football.

“When we travel out of this country, apart from football, I believe that one of the key ways in which Ghanaians are identified is actually the music,” he said.

The engagement therefore centred on finding ways for the fintech and entertainment sectors to work together on areas such as financial inclusion, digital financial services, audience engagement and opportunities within Ghana’s creative economy.

For Sarkodie, the discussion represents a push for a relationship in which both the corporate partner and creative industry gain measurable value rather than treating sponsorship as a one-way financial transaction.

The rapper and his team are expected to continue discussions with MMF on possible areas of collaboration as preparations for Rapperholic and his wider creative projects continue.

Source: Graphics Online