A Ghanaian entrepreneur, Afua Asantewaa Owusu Aduonum, has attempted to land a world record for singing non-stop. She began her 'sing-a-thon' in the West African nation's capital, Accra, on Christmas Eve and finished on Friday, performing for 126 hours and 52 minutes.
The five-day event saw Asantewaa perform local songs nonstop, with overwhelming support from Ghanaians, including former President John Dramani Mahama and current Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia, both of whom are running for the country's highest office in its 2024 elections.
She is said to have dethroned India's Sunil Waghmare, who has held the record since 2012, when he sung for 105 hours. Asantewaa, unlike Waghmare, is not a professional singer, and some Ghanaians on social media doubted her ability to pull off her feat when she started the sing-a-thon challenge. However, she was reportedly able to unofficially surpass the record holder's time by an additional 21 hours.
Guinness World Records (GWR) responded to a comment on Facebook alerting it to Asantewaa's completion of her attempt on Friday, describing the event as one that "certainly seems to have captured the public's imagination.”
It also stated that its judges "look forward to receiving evidence” to determine whether Asantewaa broke the record for the longest singing challenge by an individual.
Asantewaa's attempt coincided with Ghana's efforts to attract more tourists and promote its culture, including music. Earlier this month, the government launched a visa-on-arrival program for tourists visiting the former British colony for the Christmas and New Year holidays as part of its 10-year 'Beyond the Return' campaign, which aims to encourage members of the African diaspora community to explore and reconnect with Ghana.
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) appointed the 33-year-old entrepreneur as its tourism ambassador over the weekend as a reward for “putting the spotlight” on Africa's largest gold producer, which is one of the most peaceful countries on the continent, according to the Global Peace Index.
“This gives her enough responsibility to work with us closely to project the country more and market the country domestically and internationally. This is a great feat which goes to the advantage of the country. It is very important to leverage the personality of Afua Asantewaa,” Kofi Atta Kakra Kusi, Deputy Head of Corporate Affairs at the GTA, told local broadcaster JoyNews.
Meanwhile, Ghanaian culinary artist Faila Abdul Razak began a cooking marathon at midnight on Monday, aiming to break the current world record of 119 hours and 57 minutes held by Irish chef Alan Fisher.
Hilda Effiong Bassey, a Nigerian chef, had held the world record for the longest cooking marathon since June of last year, but was deposed by Fisher in November.
Faila is attempting to cook nonstop for more than 120 hours in order to unseat Fisher and reclaim the title for West Africa.