CEO of Roverman Productions, James Ebo Whyte, says the lack of thriving indigenous companies in the corporate sector is affecting funding for theatre and other sectors of the entertainment industry.

Speaking on Joy FM's Showbiz A-Z on Saturday, he said many of the companies, from telcos to the banking sector are mostly foreign-owned.

Uncle Ebo Whyte, as he is popularly called, explained that because the owners of these companies are not Ghanaians, they may not be willing to invest in sponsorships or other marketing avenues that may promote the growth of the industry.

“The real decision-makers are not in Ghana. The person is in South Africa, Dubai, London and those places. The contact person you are dealing with here would have to go and sell your sponsorship request to somebody who doesn’t know you or this market.

“So, it will be the easiest thing for the person to say I am not interested and then Ghana will have to say I’m sorry we won’t give the sponsorship to you,” he added.

Uncle Ebo Whyte stated that Ghanaians may have lost control of the economy, adding that almost every huge company in the different sectors are run by foreigners.

The renowned playwright told host George Quaye that “corporate Ghana is now owned by foreigners. Go through all the sectors in Ghana and tell me which of the major companies are Ghanaian-owned?"

So, when you have your economy dominated by companies that are owned from outside that country, then you can be sure that they would not be interested in developing that society and that country as well as indigenous companies would,” he emphasised.