Veteran Ghanaian actor Majid Michel has dismissed comparisons between Ghana’s movie industry and Nigeria’s Nollywood as fundamentally unfair and “stupid.”
Speaking in a recent interview with Y1079 FM Accra, Michel pointed to the vast population difference between the two countries as the core reason such comparisons make little sense.
“The comparison between us and Nigeria is such a stupid comparison to me,” he said. “If you have 50 children and I have 5 children, the possibility that you will have more criminals, doctors, good children and filmmakers than me is very high.”
Ghana’s population stands at under 40 million, while Nigeria’s exceeds 200 million and approaches 300 million, Michel noted. “So how on earth would you compare? Why do they have more doctors than us? Mathematically, you should know why. So if Nigeria has more filmmakers than us, it only makes sense because they are way more than us.”
He extended the argument beyond entertainment, saying it is equally unfair for Ghana to measure itself against long-established nations in any field, including leadership.
“When it comes to leadership, we are adolescent. There are countries that have been in leadership for over 300 years. They have built systems. We are way behind. So it is an unfair comparison.”
Michel’s comments have reignited discussion about how African creative industries should be evaluated relative to one another, with many observers agreeing that scale and historical development must be factored into any meaningful assessment.