A whole 70 years old.
Seventy years of freedom, progress, achievement and growth. Seventy years of building a nation and imagining what it could become.
What have we built?
Ghana still lacks a dedicated, fully equipped live-performance venue capable of consistently supporting our music, theatre and wider performing arts sector.
60 founding places at US$5,000 each, to build the institution.
Become a Founding Member Scroll for the story ↓A stage is not the same as performance infrastructure.
The National Theatre. The Accra International Conference Centre. The Drama Studio at the University of Ghana. We expect performances to happen there. But before any show can go on, artists and producers have to bring the infrastructure in themselves.
- +Sound equipment
- +Lighting
- +Technical crew
- +Transport and installation
All on top of venue hire, artist fees, rehearsals and promotion.
The only venue that consistently offers artists a reasonably affordable, ready-to-use package of space, sound and lighting is Alliance Française. It has played an important role in Accra's cultural life, and artists benefit from having it.
But a foreign cultural institution, however valuable its contribution, operates within its own mandate and priorities. Ghana's long-term cultural infrastructure requires institutions rooted in Ghana, with the capacity and commitment to invest in Ghanaian culture over generations.
When every production has to begin by solving its own infrastructure problems, nothing accumulates. Excellent work gets made, one show at a time. The shared infrastructure, regular programming, audience habits, technical capacity and production ecosystem that allow an entire sector to grow never get built.
Without that system, how do we develop a live-performance market? How do we grow audiences who attend regularly, create reliable work for artists and technical professionals, circulate new work, and build a creative sector that contributes meaningfully to Ghana's GDP?
You cannot sustainably grow a market without building the infrastructure that allows the market to exist and mature.
Ghana has the artists, the stories, the talent and the cultural imagination. What we need is infrastructure that allows these resources to develop into a thriving, sustainable creative economy.
What would it mean to build the cultural infrastructure that Ghana's next 70 years deserve?
To put on a production, artists and producers often have to source sound equipment, lighting and technical services from external companies, then arrange for everything to be transported to the venue, installed and operated.
This is true whether you are an emerging musician putting on a small show, a theatre company staging a new production, or an established artist bringing a major performance to an audience. The scale changes, but the underlying problem remains: every production has to overcome the same infrastructure gap before the actual work can begin.
Artists who can mobilise enough money may produce excellent work, but much of that effort goes towards making an individual production possible. We end up relying heavily on individual artists to create opportunities for themselves, one production at a time, instead of building a system that makes sustained creative production possible.
Cultural infrastructure is nation-building.
Ghana needs locally rooted institutions that can invest in this work for the long term. Institutions accountable to the cultural life of this country, that develop Ghanaian talent and audiences, and that help make our creative industries an increasingly significant part of our economy.
If we believe Ghanaian culture has value, we must be willing to build the infrastructure that sustains it.
Cultural infrastructure determines whether creative talent can flourish, whether audiences can develop lasting relationships with the arts, and whether the people who work in the creative industries can build sustainable careers.
A thriving cultural economy requires more than individual success stories. It requires institutions that can support the creation and circulation of work, build audiences over time, and make cultural participation a regular part of everyday life.
A home for live performance in Accra.
A purpose-built space for live music, theatre, spoken word and multidisciplinary performance, designed around the needs of artists and audiences. The ambition is bigger than a venue.
Quality programming, produced and presented all year round.
A recurring audience for whom live performance is a regular part of life.
Opportunities for artists and creative professionals to develop their work.
We want to help build a culture in which live performance is not an occasional luxury or an extraordinary undertaking, but a regular part of how people experience art, culture and community.
Over time, Abakanpa aims to contribute to a stronger creative ecosystem: one in which artists have better conditions in which to work, audiences have more reasons to show up, and cultural production can become more consistent and sustainable.
Poetra Asantewa
Artist, entrepreneur and cultural organiser.
More than sixteen years building creative ventures and institutions in Ghana, and more than a decade performing and producing shows at home and on tour across the United States and Europe.
Her experience spans both sides of the creative economy: making and presenting artistic work, and building the businesses, programmes and organisations that allow creative work to reach audiences.
Abakanpa brings this experience together at an institutional scale.
As an artist, Poetra has firsthand knowledge of what it takes to bring creative work to an audience, and of the infrastructure artists need to sustain their practice and grow.
Across Yobbings, Black Girls Glow, Tampered Press and Makola Queens, she has developed experience in creative production, audience development, business operations, partnerships and the sustained work of building organisations in an environment where the infrastructure to support them is often limited.
Abakanpa grows out of a career spent making creative work, building ventures and creating opportunities for other artists. Poetra is now applying that experience to a larger ambition: building the cultural infrastructure that Ghana's creative sector needs to develop and thrive.
A cultural institution built as a sustainable business.
The core business is ticketed programming. Opening ticket prices sit below the Accra market average, by design: the first priority is building the habit of returning.
The base financial projections rely on ticket revenue alone. Sponsorship, venue hire and other income streams would strengthen the business, and the model does not depend on them.
Planned operating loss in Year 1. Positive EBITDA from Year 2, reaching about GHS861,000 in Year 3.
Projections based on defined assumptions, not guarantees. Audience growth is a critical factor in the model, and we treat it as a core business priority.
Building the audience before maximising ticket revenue. Lower opening prices reduce the barrier to attendance, encourage people to experience live performance more regularly, and build the habit of returning. As the programme, audience and institution develop, pricing can evolve alongside the value and demand for the experience.
Consistent, quality programming. Audiences need compelling reasons to attend regularly. Abakanpa will build a programme that gives people reasons to return, with opportunities for different forms of performance and different stages of artistic development.
Audience development. A sustainable live-performance sector needs people who see attending shows as part of their lives. We will invest in building that habit, beyond selling tickets to individual events.
A phased, disciplined operation. We will build operational capacity in line with the needs of the business, managing costs carefully as the programme and audience grow.
A founder with a track record of execution. Poetra's experience building businesses, cultural programmes and creative products provides a foundation for developing Abakanpa with both artistic ambition and commercial discipline.
Where the US$300,000 goes.
This capital moves Abakanpa from an idea and operating plan into a functioning institution.
The Founding Circle invites a group of people to take part in building an institution they believe Ghana needs. Lasting institutions are built through commitment, shared purpose and a willingness to invest in something before its full potential can be seen.
60 places.
US$5,000 each.
One institution.
For people who believe Ghana needs enduring cultural institutions, and who want to help build one that serves generations to come.
Your name in The Abakan Founding 60, on the website and in the institutional archive, plus a designed physical certificate or card. Anonymous listing available.
Priority ticket access, preferential pricing on selected programmes, early announcements, preview and opening invitations, and an annual Founding Members gathering. Specific ticketing and pricing benefits will be confirmed before the campaign launches.
A membership card, certificate, a letter from Poetra and a small Abakanpa object, artwork or publication. Plus a private preview of the venue before it opens.
Invitations to selected artist conversations, rehearsals, work-in-progress presentations and programme previews.
An annual gathering where we share what we have achieved, what we are learning and what comes next, and hear your perspective. Artistic programming and operational decisions remain the responsibility of Abakanpa's leadership.
Building it, place by place.
Request the full case
The complete argument, founder background and financial model. Leave your details and Poetra will send it to you personally.
We can celebrate what Ghana has achieved. We can also help build what it still needs.
Your name can be part of its beginning.