Nana Mpentoa is a Ghanaian based in Ghent, Belgium. He recorded his first song in Asamankese, where he used to sing hiplife music. People told him his words were like “Mpentoa,” which helped him earn some money. He has lived in Belgium for three years.
In an interview with DJ Nyaami on SVTV Africa’s Daily Hustle Worldwide show, Nana Mpentoa shared that when he was in Accra, he wasn’t doing anything serious with music yet. He used to sell clothes while roaming around. Later, he met a friend in the US who encouraged him to pursue music seriously. After some time, he was offered 5 million cedis by an insurance company, which he used to invest in his music career.
His music was picked up for a campaign advertisement, though it wasn’t properly mixed, and the engineers left him with only 500 Ghana cedis, which he used to continue working. Back in his hometown, he started dealing with electronics, especially televisions. One man sold him a 17-inch TV for 200 Ghana cedis, which Nana sold back home for a profit. He later worked with a German Borga who sold him larger TVs, including a 42-inch for 800 Ghana cedis, which he sold for 1000 cedis.
In 2021, Nana returned and expanded his business, receiving TVs from a Borga for resale. He became popular in his hometown for selling TVs, sometimes taking down payments before supplying the products. He was the only TV seller in the area, and people trusted him.
Meanwhile, he continued with music, creating a sanitation-themed song for Zoomlion Ghana. He traveled to Adeiso to shoot a video with the company. However, the erosion workers who filmed the video demanded payment, so he had to hire another cameraman in Asamankese to finish it. Though the video got approved, additional artists were requested to be featured, but Nana didn’t hear back from them.
While selling clothes, Zoomlion later offered him 6000 Ghana cedis for his work and wanted him to produce more content, promising payment by check. Through this, his parents were in Belgium and they helped him relocate.
In Belgium, Nana lived with his parents and got a job. Despite expectations from people in Ghana that he would quickly succeed abroad, he experienced the usual challenges. He worked for a week at a company but received €80, but he thinks when you work abroad, your salary is taken back by the system, he learned new skills in Belgium and planned to open a business in Ghana once he returns.
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