Ghanaian Creators Are Owed Better Than This
Over the past two months, some Ghanaian creators on X have been waiting. Waiting for payments they earned. Waiting for answers from platforms. Waiting for money that was confirmed released, yet never arrived in their accounts.
The frustration playing out publicly is real, and it should be acknowledged. It reflects a systemic gap. Not in Ghanaian creative talent, which is world-class, but in the systems that exist today to support it.
The infrastructure behind creator monetisation was not built with African creators in mind. It works reliably in some markets and less predictably in others. When those gaps surface, African creators are left to absorb the consequences.
The specifics of this instance will continue to emerge but the broader pattern is already familiar to anyone in this space. Payouts are delayed by global payments friction, and creators bear the impact. Funds remain in transit. Income expected weeks earlier is still inaccessible. And those who depend on that income to pay collaborators, cover expenses, or sustain their livelihoods are left without clarity.
This is not a new story. It is the story African creators have lived for years. The creator economy feels global until it’s time to get paid.
We created Akuna Wallet because we believe this story has to end.
Talent is borderless. Opportunity should be, too. For too long, creators across Ghana have produced world-class content for global audiences, collaborated with international brands, and competed at scale, while facing lopsided monetisation models and being locked out of the financial infrastructure required to get fairly paid for it. No reliable path for payments in dollars, euros, or pounds to reach them without friction, delay,or someone else's compliance problem becoming their problem. Global payment platforms such as PayPal are not built for Africans and offer little to no usable access.
X is one of the largest global platforms used by African creators today to build audiences at scale and earn directly from their content. For Ghanaian creators, it is a primary source of income, not just visibility. It provides access to global audiences and real economic opportunity. The current delayed X payout situation is a case study in exactly what breaks down when creators depend on payment rails not built with them in mind. Global platforms, by design, optimize for the markets where most of their users are. Africa is an afterthought or at best, a future roadmap item. In the meantime, creators here absorb the cost of every gap.
Akuna Wallet was built to close those gaps, from the ground up, with African creators as the primary user, not the edge case.
Here is what that looks like in practice: a US bank account, with an account number and routing number, so creators can receive payments from global clients, platforms, and brands that require US account details to pay out.
Payments in USD, GBP, and EUR — received faster, with transparent, low fees. The ability to move earnings to local channels like mobile money and ghanaian bank accounts, so you can earn globally and spend locally. QR code invoicing so you can request payment from a client or collaborator in seconds, without sharing bank details back and forth. Tools to pay your own collaborators and partners, because building in Africa is rarely a solo act.
The African creator economy is one of the fastest-growing in the world. Young Ghanaians are building audiences in the millions, monetizing at scale, and competing on the global stage with nothing but talent and an internet connection. The financial tools available to them should reflect that ambition.
Every week that payments are delayed, frozen, or lost to compliance gaps is a week that a creator reconsiders whether it is worth building. Whether the global platforms that profit from their content actually see them. Whether the promise of the creator economy was ever meant to include them.
It was. And it will, but only if the infrastructure catches up.
That is what we are building at Akuna Wallet. Not a workaround. Not a stopgap. A real financial layer and payment infrastructure, built for creators, by people who understand what is at stake.
If you are a Ghanaian creator tired of asking when your money will arrive, you should not have to ask that question. Download Akuna Wallet on Apple or Android and start getting paid on your terms.
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Kwadwo Owusu-Agyeman is the CEO of Akuna Wallet, a digital payment platform built for African creators. Akuna Wallet was co-founded by Idris Elba's Akuna Group in partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation. Learn more at akunawallet.com.
