Gist: Akumaa Mama Zimbi An African Icon

Akumaa Mama Zimbi (known in private life as Mrs. Joyce Akumaa Dongotey-Padi), Ghana’s number one radio and Television talk show on relationship, marriage, love and sex, called ‘Odo Ahomaso’ on Adom 106.3 FM and Multi-TV has been named as the 50 Most Influential Personality in Ghana in the year 2013. This was announced as part of the Ghana’s 100 Most Influential Personalities Award for 2013. The 100 Most Influential Personalities Award is an annual list of 100 Ghanaians whose actions and opinions strongly influence the course of events in the country, and this is the fourth edition assembled by E.tv Ghana. This came as no surprise because Mama Zimbi is currently rated as the 2 most influential female celebrity on Google plus in Ghana, with gender ranking of No.3 and overall profile ranking of No.8 according to Google’s circlecount.com. She is also currently raking as the Most Influential TV and Radio Personality in Ghana on the entire social media according to starcount.com which is an internet survey group and global popularity leaderboard. Starcount.com rank the world’s top celebrities and brands based on their popularity and engagement from 11 of the world’s biggest social media networks such as facebook, twitter and youtube to produce the ultimate social media chart. They also show the social media ranking of stars across thousands of countries and categories like sports chart, TV chart, music chart and film chart. This current rating makes Akumaa Mama Zimbi the most influential female Ghanaian celebrity ever after Ivonne Nelson and Eazzy on the entire social media. And the 22 and 111 most influential celebrity or brand on the entire social media in the whole of Ghana and West Africa respectively. Other significant celebrities on the starcount.com Ghana alltime chart includes Kevin-Prince Boateng (The most influential sports celebrity), Kofi Kingston the wrestler, Michael Essien (The most influential football celebrity), Ivonne Nelson (The most influential movie Celebrity), Eazzy (The most influential female music celebrity), Ameyaw Debrah (The most influential internet blogger and publicist), Dag-Heward Mills (The most influential Religious Leader) and Sakordie (The most influential music celebrity). Besides showbiz, Mama Zimbi is currently Co-Ambassador for World Heart Day – 2013 in Ghana. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Mama Zimbi Foundation (MZF), a non-governmental organization which initiated the Widows Alliance Network (WANE) that supports vulnerable widows and their needy children with membership of over 8,000 widows across Ghana. Mama Zimbi’s prove of social media excellence whilst presenting her shows in Ghanaian language and also positioning her brand as a true African woman, which has made her a world-class African cultural icon, is an evident that when we approach our creative industry through the eyes of our traditional arts and culture, we are destined for development and once again take our proper place as leaders in Africa.