Ghana’s ‘Sankofa Street’ becomes Netflix Africa’s most-watched drama

Sankofa Street, the Accra-set crime drama produced by Farmhouse Productions and directed by Samuel Blankson, has become Netflix Africa’s most-watched original drama series in the platform’s history, surpassing the previous record held by South Africa’s Blood & Water after accumulating 47 million viewing hours in its first four weeks.nnThe eight-part series follows a female detective in the Accra Metropolitan Police as she investigates a money laundering network with tentacles reaching from Osu nightclubs to the corridors of Parliament. It stars Caroline Sampson, John Dumelo, Lydia Forson and British-Ghanaian newcomer Adjoa Amponsah, whose portrayal of a morally ambiguous government lawyer has generated particular acclaim.nnNetflix Africa executive Busola Tejumola said the show had performed beyond even the platform’s own optimistic projections and had been its top performer globally in the non-English language drama category for three of its first four weeks.nn”Sankofa Street tells a story rooted in specifically Ghanaian social tensions — corruption, class, gender, tradition — and audiences around the world connected with it precisely because of that specificity,” Tejumola said.nnThe show has also triggered a minor tourism effect: the production designer confirmed that multiple production companies from the US and UK have enquired about filming in the Accra and Cape Coast locations used for the series.nnSeason two has been confirmed. Pre-production is expected to begin in January, with the intention to film across Ghana and London.