By: Seli Baisie
Africa’s most Influential YouTuber, Wode Maya, has recounted his worst experience as a black person living in China saying he left Ghana because he thought he could never make a better living in Africa.
“I was based in China and the reason why I left Ghana was that I thought you can never make it in Africa. And when I went to China, the things that I was seeing, the things that I was hearing, people just looking down upon me because I’m coming from Africa, I feel like if Africa becomes stronger, if Africa becomes OK, we’ll be respected out there.”
Speaking on GTV’s Breakfast Show, the Ghanaian vlogger disclosed that he went through anti-Black discrimination in China because of the colour of his skin.
“Even sometimes you’re going to look for a job, they’ll tell you, you don’t look like Obama, So I’m sorry, we’re not going to give you the job. That’s when they need a black person. But a black person should not be as dark as Wode Maya. A job that the description is black people. So, imagine the ones that they would say, no black people allowed. I mean, you might be on a train. Nobody wants to sit beside you. You might be in an office, and your own colleagues will be like, Why are you here? So, all the time you feel inferior. So I felt like, I don’t belong there. Where do I belong? That’s Africa,” he revealed on Friday, July 8.
According to the digital media influencer, the perception of Africa is a result of miseducation.
“People are just miseducated about Africa. So, I took it upon myself to come to Africa, to come and tell positive African stories. See, Africa is not perfect, but Africa is the place to be,” Wode Maya asserted.
The award-winning YouTuber also mention that he took a loan from a friend to buy a flight ticket back to Ghana.
“When I was coming to Africa, I came here with $100. I’m just going to tell you this. I came here it’s not one of those stories, because these days I’ve seen that every story that details, people are saying that you’re making it up. As I told you, I collected a loan that I have to pay back. Over $5,000 but that is for buying tickets. I didn’t get even a dollar out of that money. All the five countries that I wanted to go to in Africa, it was on a loan.”
He added: “My Chinese friend, I think he came to Ghana to see my mom. After everything went well, I invited him to Africa and he was amazed the beauty that he saw here. So I came here. I came here with $100. Live my life, met people who have made it. They mentored me. And this is where we are right now. So it’s possible. It’s just that you’re not meeting the right people. People on the ground.”
Who is Wode Maya?
Berthold Kobby Winkler Ackon, popularly known as Wode Maya, hails from Ahekofi in Kofikrom the Western region of Ghana.
He pursued his Tertiary Education in China and while he was still a student at Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU), he started vlogging in China about his experiences and later quit his job as an Aeronautical engineer.
In 2017, Wode Maya’s visual contents went viral across the world, earning a high viewership on the YouTube channel.
In 2021, he was ranked one of the Top and Most Influential YouTubers in Africa.