Majid Michel Calls Ghana-Nollywood Comparison ‘Unfair’, Cites Nigeria’s Larger Population

Veteran Ghanaian actor Majid Michel has criticised comparisons between Ghana’s film industry and Nigeria’s Nollywood, arguing that the two industries cannot be fairly measured without considering the countries’ significant population difference.

Michel made the remarks during a recent interview with Y1079 FM Accra, where he described comparisons between the Ghanaian and Nigerian movie industries as unreasonable.

He argued that Nigeria’s much larger population gives it a greater pool of potential actors, filmmakers and other creative professionals, making it natural for Nollywood to have more people working in the industry.

“The comparison between us and Nigeria is such a stupid comparison to me,” Michel said, explaining his position with an analogy about two families with different numbers of children.

“If you have 50 children and I have 5 children, the possibility that you will have more criminals, doctors, good children and filmmakers than me is very high,” he added.

The actor further noted that Ghana has a population of fewer than 40 million people, while Nigeria has more than 200 million and is approaching 300 million, according to his estimate. He questioned why the two countries’ film industries should be judged by the same standards without accounting for that difference.

Michel maintained that Nigeria’s larger population makes it reasonable for the country to have more filmmakers and a bigger pool of talent. His argument centres on population size as an important factor when assessing the scale of creative industries across different countries.

Beyond the film industry, the actor extended his argument to national development, saying Ghana should be cautious about comparing itself with countries that have had centuries to establish strong institutions and systems of governance.

“There are countries that have been in leadership for over 300 years. They have built systems. We are way behind. So it is an unfair comparison,” he said.

Michel’s comments have drawn attention to the debate over how Ghana and Nigeria measure success in their entertainment industries. While his remarks emphasise population size and national development, they also raise broader questions about whether industry performance should be assessed by total output, quality, international reach or achievements relative to population.