Special Report from Ameyaw Debrah

Several ambitious and enterprising Ghanaian youth showed up for the first round of auditions for the upcoming realty TV series, “The Apprentice Africa”. After thousands of entries from Ghana, 50 candidates were short listed for the two-day auditions at the Golden Tulip Hotel, Accra.

The audition process started on Saturday, November 17, and successful applicants returned the following day for a new set of tasks. The auditions involved an introductory skit by the applicants, group tasks and presentations, as well as one on one interview sessions with a panel headed by Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, CEO of Tropical Cables & Conductor Limited and the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI).  Other panel members were the renowned producer and founder of Pidgen Music, Michael Akindele a producer for the show and principal partner of The Executive Group who owns the rights to The Apprentice Africa format. The final round of audition will take place on December 1.

Other auditions are being held concurrently in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, London and Washington DC. Michael Akindele said “the show is aimed at showcasing African business and entrepreneurial acumen to the rest of the world.”   He hoped that the inclusion of Africans in the Diaspora would contribute to solving the problem of brain drain by making the “Diasporans” aware of the opportunities back home. He believes that Africans working in the Diaspora have a conducive and relatively easier environment to work and that it would be exciting to see how they perform in the African setting.

The Apprentice Africa producers seek to create a world-class, top-rated business reality show across the African continent and the Diaspora that has unequalled educational, leadership, management, entertainment, and market value. The series will feature one CEO; 18 Africans; 18 weeks and18 episodes of challenging 17 business management tasks and 17 rewards. The ultimate winner will take home an annual salary of $200,000 and a luxury car.

The Apprentice Africa will air on several TV stations across Africa starting from February 16 to June 16, 2008. And if the crop of participants from the Ghana auditions is anything to go by, then viewers are up for an enthralling series.

People are excited and talking about the show as evidenced in the clip below.