Ghana's podcast pioneer on growing without losing soul

Before co-founding The Gold Coast Report (GCR), Ghanaian Kwadzo Afeku wasn't a media executive — he was a long-time podcast listener with a background in economics and development work. After studying abroad, he spent several years in the US and China, where he discovered the emerging podcast culture through digital outlets like Grantland and The Ringer. The conversational tone and creative freedom of those shows stuck with him.

When he returned to Accra in 2017, he and his friend Donald Aryee decided to try something similar at home, a podcast network rooted in Ghanaian voices, humor and debate. They started small, recording in a cousin's studio on weekends and editing late into the night.

Eight years later, GCR has grown into one of West Africa's most influential podcast collectives, home to Sincerely Accra (which became Ghana's only Spotify Original and made it a flagship show in that company's African podcast expansion) and other top shows. Today, the network is both a creative hub and a production company, taking on commercial projects to stay sustainable while navigating what it means to grow up, from side hustle to serious business, and all the pros and cons that go with it.

We spoke to Kwadzo about how to manage that growth without losing your soul, the trade-offs between creative freedom and structure, and what "success" really looks like when you build something from scratch.

DW Akademie: You started GCR as a small, DIY collective. When did it start feeling like something bigger?

Kwadzo Afeku: It didn't happen all at once. It was just us doing this thing we loved every weekend — recording, editing, figuring stuff out. But when Sincerely Accra blew up, that’s when I realized, "Okay, this is real now." It wasn’t just our friends listening anymore. There was a real audience waiting for episodes, people asking when the next one was coming.

That’s when things started to change. We began thinking about structure, scheduling, consistency, all the things you don’t care about when it’s just a hobby. And when we hired our first few people, it hit me: this isn’t just a side thing anymore. People’s livelihoods depend on this now. That’s a huge shift.

What’s been hardest about growing—creatively, not just logistically?

It’s the balance. When we started, we could experiment with anything. We didn’t have to think about sponsors or how an episode might be received. We just made what we wanted and learned from it.

Now, with structure, you have to think differently. You have clients, staff, bills, and deadlines. Structure helps you grow, but it can also slow you down. There are days when I feel like I’m managing more than creating. The challenge is keeping that curiosity alive, that sense of fun that got you started in the first place.

You have to find the middle ground. Too much chaos, and you burn out; too much order, and you lose what made it exciting.

How have you tried to protect that creative freedom as GCR has grown?

We try to keep space for projects that don’t have to make money. Some things exist just because someone believes in them. That’s how a lot of our shows started. Someone said, "Hey, I have this idea," and we found a way to make it happen.

We also had a small project called GCR Labs. The idea was to train and support new podcasters—sort of a community workshop. It didn’t go as far as we hoped because, honestly, doing that while running client work and our own shows was a lot. But it reminded us of what we want GCR to be, a space for learning and experimentation. I’d like to bring it back when the structure and funding are right.

How do you keep your team motivated and creative now that there’s more structure?

Trust. I don’t believe in micro-managing because that kills the energy fast. Everyone here has to feel like they have ownership of what they’re doing. We hire people who are passionate about storytelling, and then we give them the room to create.

We also remind ourselves why we’re doing this. GCR isn’t just a company, it’s a network of people who care about telling African stories with the same quality and pride you’d find anywhere else. That shared vision keeps people motivated. It’s not just about hitting deadlines, it’s about building something that lasts.

You’ve mentioned that running a company changed how you think about responsibility. What does that mean day-to-day?

It’s the weight of decisions. Before, if something didn’t work out, it was just me staying up late trying to fix it. Now, if things go wrong, people could lose income, or a client could lose trust in the company. It’s a different level of accountability.

It also means thinking about what we put out into the world. With The Closet 233, for example, we wanted to make space for LGBTQ+ voices in Ghana, but we had to be careful. The environment here is tense around that. There’s political and religious pressure, and people’s safety is on the line. We made sure the hosts could record safely and anonymously. It taught me that leadership sometimes means knowing when to push and when to protect.

What has GCR learned about sustainability—both creative and financial?

That you can’t survive on one thing. We’ve done ads, merch, live shows, partnerships — but what’s worked best is what we call GCR as a service (GCRaaS). We use our production skills to make podcasts and videos for others. That work keeps us going and lets us fund our own creative projects.

But creative sustainability is just as important as financial. If you only make content because it pays, you’ll lose interest and the quality drops. So we mix things: commercial work to stay stable and creative work to stay inspired. That combination keeps the lights on and keeps us excited about what we do.

What advice would you give to other podcast networks moving from small and scrappy to structured?

The biggest thing I’ve learned is to know what you won’t compromise on. Growth will test you and you’ll have to make choices you don’t always like. So from the beginning, be clear on what’s non-negotiable. For us, it’s the sound and the authenticity. The moment you lose that, you lose what makes you, you.

And don’t chase growth just for the sake of it. It looks nice to say, “We have 20 shows,” but are they all good? Can you manage them? Every new show adds more work, more stress, more management. Be honest about what you can actually sustain.

And it’s okay to say no. I’ve had to learn to say no to projects or clients that don’t fit what we’re building. Growth has to be intentional, not just about getting bigger.

Where do you see GCR — and African podcasting — heading next?

Collaboration. I was in Lagos recently for the 2025 Création Africa Forum,  and everyone there—from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa—was talking about the same thing: how to connect our work.

Imagine a show recorded in Accra, edited in Tanzania, and promoted across both markets. That’s how we scale. I think the next phase for African podcasting isn’t just more shows, it’s better ones. Richer sound design, local languages, storytelling that feels rooted in where we are.

At a workshop in Lagos, a Ugandan sound engineer broke down the audio layers of a film scene—every detail, every texture. I remember thinking, what if we treated our podcasts with that same attention to sound? That’s the direction I want GCR to go—maybe more audio-only shows because I just personally love that intimacy it brings, but remembering that video is very important for reach. We want to keep growing, but always with intention.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.