For someone with a strong business background, Vako Ferguson never thought she would be able to link this with her passion for musical theatre, which she was able to do when she founded a Creative and Arts Production Company in 2017 which was re-branded this year as The Indigen Group.
Vako Ferguson is an Entrepreneur and Business Management Professional. She had her primary and secondary-level education in Ghana and holds a first degree (Economics) and post-graduate (Master of Business Administration) from the US.
She is also a member of the board of her family’s business, Nyaho Healthcare Limited.
“I have always had a passion for the performing arts and started writing my original scripts and songs for musical theatre in 2012. I decided to formalize my work in this area by registering the business as The Indigen Theatre Company in 2017. “
The Indigen Group organizes annual musical productions or concerts as well as regular lessons for students of musical theatre/the performing arts, offering business training for creatives and others.
The company has been contributing its quota to Ghanaian society by offering an avenue for performing arts (and, specifically, musical theatre) talent to find a home after the secondary and tertiary levels of schooling.
“I believe that my work is one out of many activities going on in the performing arts space to create more structure in our industry.
I often languished at the fact that the extent of our musical theatre activity in Ghana seemed to rest at the secondary school level with quality productions being created by the likes of Ghana International School, Tema International School, and Association International School for instance. My question was ‘Where does this musical theatre talent go after high school’? Do they get absorbed into mainstream theatre or even film, find themselves in the ‘West’ where there may be more musical theatre-specific opportunities, or do they end up in different industries altogether, for the lack of a proper musical theatre marketplace” she argued.
Her primary obstacles, she claims, have been fundraising as well as the high expense of equipment and the type of resources required to organize a quality event.
These challenges, she says are understandable for early-stage organizations, and the types of challenges encountered just alter shape based on the levels attained.
“Although I am exhausted after every milestone/production and simply want to ‘tune out’ after each period, after a little rest, I am ready to plough myself back into the space for the sheer love of it,” she said.
Vako is a lover of nature, she loves to explore and is always excited at the opportunity to travel.
In years to come, Vako wishes to see Indigen Group evolve to encompass an established school of performing arts as well as a Centre at which periodic performances and productions take place, much like the Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C, US or the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa.
She advised young individuals who wish to start their businesses to remember that, while it can be a lonely journey, they ought to connect with and learn from others in similar fields of work.
“It’s a long, hard, and grueling journey that may take a long time to bear the fruits we would like to see, but, once you have the passion for it, at the end of the day, it will be well worth it when you can stand back and look at what you have created” she added.