American YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, known as MrBeast, has unveiled Abna Dakwa Village, a nearly $10 million community in Ghana's Eastern Region. The village was built with a school, clinic, and solar power to keep children off cocoa farms. MrBeast, who has over 515 million subscribers and runs the charity arm Beast Philanthropy, released a video on 19 September 2026 showcasing the project. The development cost close to $10 million and followed roughly a year of planning and eight months of construction.
The Abna Dakwa Village is home to about 1,062 residents and was designed around five priority areas: education, clean water, healthcare, food, and economic opportunity. The site has a school with room for over 300 pupils, a medical clinic, a marketplace, and solar-powered electricity. The village also features ten homes for teachers, improved sanitation facilities, water towers with solar-powered pumping systems, agricultural plots, fish tanks, and a chicken coop. A football field and children's playground have also been added for recreation.
Every child enrolled at the school will receive a free meal on each school day for the next five years, with backing from The Rockefeller Foundation. The foundation is a US-based philanthropic organisation known for funding health, food security, and education initiatives around the world. The free meal programme aims to improve nutrition and school attendance, which could directly affect whether children in the area continue farm work instead of attending classes.
The village was constructed specifically to give children and families in cocoa-growing communities an alternative to child labour. Cocoa farming remains a major economic activity in Ghana's Eastern Region, and child labour on cocoa farms has long been a documented concern. The new development is intended to close gaps in access to schools, clinics, and reliable water or electricity for families living in rural farming communities.
For residents of Abna Dakwa Village, the project means access to schooling, healthcare, and clean water in a single, purpose-built community. The solar power installation is described as a long-term electricity source for the community, addressing a basic infrastructure gap common in many rural Ghanaian farming areas. The village's design and amenities aim to provide a comprehensive solution to the challenges faced by local families.
This project is the first of its kind reported by Chale News, and no earlier coverage of it appears in their archive. The report does not specify further construction phases, additional funding partners beyond The Rockefeller Foundation, or how long the school meal programme will continue after its stated five-year term. No government or Ghana Cocoa Board comment on the project has been reported.
As it stands, the only confirmed timeline in the source material is the five-year free meal commitment; no other schedule or follow-up has been announced. The project's impact on the local community and its potential to serve as a model for similar initiatives in other cocoa-growing regions remains to be seen. The Abna Dakwa Village project has garnered attention for its comprehensive approach to addressing child labour and improving living conditions in rural Ghana.
Key points
- MrBeast invests nearly $10 million in Abna Dakwa Village to combat child labour in Ghana's cocoa sector.
- The village provides access to education, healthcare, and clean water for over 1,000 residents.
- A five-year free meal programme has been implemented to support school attendance and nutrition.
