Archive · 23 Sep 2026
MrBeast Faces Backlash Over Ghana Project, Defends Local Giving
MrBeast helped build a village project in Ghana.
The project cost nearly $10 million.
It includes a school, homes for teachers, a clinic, clean water and solar power.
Some people asked why he was not spending more money in his hometown of Greenville.
MrBeast said he already helps people there through his charity, Beast Philanthropy.
The charity says it has delivered millions of meals and large amounts of food in the area.
The Ghana project is meant to help children leave child labour and attend school.
It also supports farming, health care and community services.
MrBeast said he wanted to make the project even if the video received less attention.
MrBeast faced criticism for spending nearly $10 million on a village project in Ghana instead of focusing on Greenville, North Carolina.
The Abna Dakwa Village project includes a school, teacher housing, a clinic, clean water, solar power and agricultural facilities.
MrBeast said Beast Philanthropy supports his hometown and has distributed tens of millions of meals across the United States.
Beast Philanthropy says its Greenville-based pantry has delivered more than 48 million meals and distributed over 60 million pounds of food.
The Ghana initiative aims to help keep children out of child labour and in school, with more than 10,000 direct beneficiaries.
- Who
- YouTube creator and philanthropist MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, and his nonprofit Beast Philanthropy.
- What
- MrBeast faced criticism over nearly $10 million spent on the Abna Dakwa Village project in Ghana and responded by highlighting his local charitable work.
- When
- The Ghana project took about a year to develop and eight months to construct; Beast Pantry began in Greenville in late 2020.
- Where
- Abna Dakwa Village in Ghana’s Eastern Region, and Greenville, North Carolina.
- Why
- The Ghana initiative is intended to support families affected by child labour and help children remain in school, while critics questioned why more funding was not directed to MrBeast’s hometown.
Critics
MrBeast and Beast Philanthropy
Where charitable spending should go
Critics
Critics questioned why nearly $10 million was directed to Ghana rather than being spent more heavily in Greenville, where the poverty rate was cited as 25%.
MrBeast and Beast Philanthropy
MrBeast said he does support his hometown and that Beast Philanthropy has distributed tens of millions of meals in the United States, including locally.
Value of the Ghana project
Critics
Critics focused on the large overseas expenditure and questioned the priority given to the project.
MrBeast and Beast Philanthropy
MrBeast and Beast Philanthropy presented the project as a long-term effort to support education and reduce child labour in cocoa-growing communities.
Public attention and philanthropy
Critics
The criticism reflected concern that highly publicized international projects could overshadow local needs.
MrBeast and Beast Philanthropy
MrBeast said humanitarian videos generally receive less engagement than entertainment content but that he still wanted to highlight the Ghana project because it mattered to him.
- Project cost
- Nearly $10 million
- Ghana facilities
- A school for more than 300 children, 10 teacher homes, a medical clinic, clean drinking water, solar power, agricultural facilities and a marketplace
- Ghana beneficiaries
- More than 10,000 direct beneficiaries
- Local food aid
- Beast Philanthropy says its Greenville pantry has delivered more than 48 million meals and distributed more than 60 million pounds of food
- Pantry reach
- The pantry serves more than 20 communities across Eastern North Carolina and provides about 80,000 meals monthly
- Long-term commitment
- The Ghana child-labour initiative is built around a minimum five-year commitment
- International partnership
- Beast Philanthropy announced a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation for school meals in Ghana’s Eastern Region and Kenya’s Bomet County