ABSTRACT
In 2013, Mande Massa, a popular radio presenter in Bamako, told me that he had started his own radio station that he called “Radio Dakan, la voix du destin” (“Voice of Destiny”) because, as he explained, he had dedicated his professional life to the radio and creating media products was his destiny. He founded his own station in order to fully commit his energy to this venture, be independent, and benefit from his work without being exposed to the constant friction associated with the radio’s asymmetrical employment relationships. Opening a new radio station was a risky enterprise because, since the early 1990s, a high number of private radio stations had been founded in the country, which competed for audiences and influential merchants’ needs for publicity. Mande Massa nevertheless decided to invest his energy and money so that he could have his own station. Although radio is his central concern, he also produces films, television shows, and cloths with his image and organizes concerts and other public events. Mande Massa embodies many of the qualities of an entrepreneur but, from the local Malian perspective, is not regarded as such. Indeed, such individuals are in Bamako referred to as a praised person. From a scholarly perspective, he comes closer to what Banégas and Warnier (2001) refer to as a “figure of success”, albeit with a large followership and a wish to enhance social life and preserve Mande family values.
