YouTube pays creators through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). It is open to creators in Ghana, as well as most other countries. Getting in takes time, and ad money alone is modest for most channels, so it helps to know how it really works before you start counting.
The requirements
To apply for the Partner Program with ad revenue, YouTube currently asks for:
- 1,000 subscribers, and either
- 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months, or
- 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days.
You also need to:
- live in a country where the program is available (Ghana is),
- follow YouTube's monetisation policies and have no active Community Guidelines strikes,
- have 2-Step Verification turned on for the Google account,
- have one AdSense account linked to the channel.
YouTube changes these rules from time to time, and also offers some features, such as channel memberships and Super Thanks, at lower thresholds in some countries. Check the current numbers in YouTube Studio, Earn. It shows your progress and tells you when you can apply.
Getting paid in Ghana
Earnings go to your Google AdSense account.
- Your AdSense details must match your bank account exactly: your name as the bank holds it, and your address.
- Once your earnings pass a verification amount, AdSense may send a PIN by post to confirm your address, so use an address where mail actually reaches you. Some creators are offered identity verification instead.
- When your balance reaches the payment threshold (US$100 for most accounts), AdSense pays out monthly.
- In Ghana, most creators are paid by wire transfer to a local bank account. Set this up in AdSense under Payments, Payment methods. You need your bank's SWIFT code and your account number; ask your bank if you are not sure. Mobile money is not an AdSense payment option.
- AdSense also asks for tax information. Fill it in carefully; missing tax information can mean higher amounts are withheld.
How much it pays
It varies a great deal. Advertisers pay more for viewers in some countries, and for topics like finance, tech and business than for entertainment. Many channels whose viewers are mostly in Ghana earn relatively little per thousand views from ads alone. That is why most successful Ghanaian creators rely on more than ads.
Income beyond ads
- Sponsorships and brand deals. Local businesses pay creators with an engaged audience to feature their products. This is often the largest source of income.
- Selling your own products or services: a course, a book, catering, tailoring, consulting. The channel is the shop window.
- Memberships and Super Thanks, once you qualify.
- Affiliate links: a commission when viewers buy through your link.
Avoid these
- Buying subscribers or views. YouTube removes them, can terminate the channel, and fake viewers never watch, which pulls your real videos down.
- Reuploading other people's content, compilations of films or TV, or music you do not own. It gets rejected from the Partner Program as "reused content" and earns copyright strikes.
- "Monetisation services" that promise to monetise your channel for a fee. Only YouTube can approve you.
Starting out? See starting a YouTube channel.