Nigeria: Chef Abbys: “I grew up with comfort but wanted to build my own name”

By Zuleihat Owuiye, Nigeria

For many young people, growing up in a comfortable, supportive family is enough. The security is there, the opportunities are provided, and the future seems already mapped out.

But for Ghanaian food content creator and chef Abena Amoakoa Sintim-Aboagye, popularly known as Chef Abbys, comfort was never meant to be a final destination — it was meant to be a launchpad.

“Having that level of comfort did not mean I wanted to simply rely on my family’s success,” Chef Abbys has often explained in interviews.

It is a principle that has defined her entire journey from making cooking videos in her kitchen to becoming one of the most recognized faces of Ghanaian cuisine on TikTok and beyond.

Chef Abbys has never hidden the fact that she grew up in a loving and relatively comfortable home. Many things were provided for her. Education, support, encouragement — she had them.

But what made her parents particularly proud, she says, was not what they gave her, but what she decided to do with it.

“Despite having many things provided for me, I still wanted to discover and pursue my own direction,” she said.

Instead of sitting back and depending on the family name or family business, she chose a much harder path: to find her own voice, her own craft, and her own hustle.

She fell in love with food — not just eating it, but storytelling through it. Ghanaian food, in particular. The waakye, the jollof, the banku with okro stew, the kelewele that crackles in hot oil. She realized that while the world was fascinated with other cuisines, Ghanaian food had not been properly documented, celebrated, and packaged for the digital generation.

She started small. Recording recipes on her phone, sharing tips on Snapchat, experimenting with presentation. At a time when food content was not yet a lucrative career in Ghana, she was consistent. While others saw it as a hobby, she saw it as a future industry.

In May 2025, Chef Abbys warmed hearts online when she announced she was traveling to the United Kingdom for a major UK Food Tour. In a viral TikTok video, she documented her entire journey — from arriving at Kotoka International Airport to boarding a business class flight to London.

“Food content creation changed my life because look at me today travelling business class to London for my UK food tour,” she said in the video, beaming with joy.

The video showed her enjoying the premium meals and comfort of business class, laughing about how cold London was, and expressing excitement for what was ahead. For her followers who had watched her since her Snapchat days, it was a full-circle moment.

In London, her tour was more than just cooking. It became a cultural exchange. She visited Akoko, one of the few Michelin-starred West African restaurants in the world, and spoke as a colleague, not just a fan.

“I was very much impressed at how my co-chefs have elevated the taste of African food here in London,” she said.

She was hosted at the residence of Ghana’s High Commissioner to the UK, H.E. Sabah Zita Benson, who cooked a special Ga-style okro stew for her personally. For Chef Abbys, who believes food is love before it is flavour, the gesture meant everything.

She also held conversations with TikTok UK about opportunities, monetization, and visibility for African creators — using her platform to open doors for others coming behind her.

What makes Chef Abbys different from many creators is that beneath the plating and the viral sounds, her core value is connection.

In a recent interaction in the UK, she was filmed playing puzzles and laughing with kids, far away from carefully curated media appearances. “I love kids so much,” she later shared.

It was a simple statement, but revealing. Her food is never just about food. It is about home, about family, about making people feel cared for.

That is why she is now being recognized beyond social media. Her growing influence led to her appointment at the Diaspora Affairs Office of the President, where she is expected to use food as a tool for cultural diplomacy and to connect Ghana to the world.

Today, when her parents talk about their daughter, it is not just about the brand deals, the business class tickets, or the millions of views. It is about the independence.

They provided comfort, but she refused to be defined by it. She took that comfort and turned it into courage — the courage to pick up a camera, to learn editing, to fail, to try again, and to build a career from scratch in an industry that did not exist when she started.

According to Chef Abbys, that is what makes them most proud. That despite having an easier route, she insisted on creating her own lane and earning her own name.

In a world where many young people feel entitled to family success, Chef Abbys’ story is a powerful reminder: true fulfilment does not come from what is given to you, but from what you have the courage to build for yourself.