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Q&A With the AFRICAN OF THE YEAR: Nana Akufo-Addo

Nana Akufo-Addo, Ghana’s President, has repositioned the country in the global marketplace as one reliant on its own resources and strengths. He is redefining economic development and it’s resonating across Africa. In an exclusive interview with FORBES AFRICA, he dwells on the new focus of the West African nation that has in recent years consistently been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. 



IN 2019, WHEN GHANA’S PRESIDENT NANA AKUFO-ADDO shared his vision for the national transformation agenda through the Ghana Beyond Aid (GBA) charter, the mandate for his New Patriotic Party (NPP) government was simple – move away from the traditional view of a Ghana dependent on aid to grow the economy and focus on its core competitive advantages.



Much before that, at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017 in Ghana’s capital Accra where a local journalist asked whether France was going to extend its support to other countries in Africa that were nonFrench colonies, the Ghanaian president, serving his first term, had interjected with: “We can no longer continue to make policy for ourselves in our continent on the basis of whatever support that the western world can give us. It will not work, it has not worked and it will not work.” A visibly uncomfortable Macron could all but muster a somewhat embarrassed smile at the audience.



But the video of this speech went viral and the remark won AkufoAddo praise on social media. The president followed by tasking his government to implement the GBA strategy document and charter for a more prosperous Ghana.



<figure class="wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Congratulations to President of Ghana H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo (<a href="https://twitter.com/NAkufoAddo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NAkufoAddo</a>) for the well-deserved and earned <a href="https://twitter.com/forbesafrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@forbesafrica</a> African of the Year 2021. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AfricanOfTheYear?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AfricanOfTheYear</a> <a href="https://t.co/H3EHwqhG9D">pic.twitter.com/H3EHwqhG9D</a>&mdash; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (@MaEllenSirleaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaEllenSirleaf/status/1467812557067067398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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After years of negative growth and economic challenges, AkufoAddo had a new vision for Ghana when he assumed office in 2017, and that was for the country to look within, to its own capabilities. Central to his thinking of growing Ghana’s economy was offering free senior high school education to children who would otherwise not receive it.



Since its implementation, a total of 1.6 million students have reportedly benefited from the program. 



“We do want, and we shall work, to take Ghana to where she deserves to be, a prosperous and dynamic member of the world community which is neither a victim nor a pawn of the world order,” Akufo-Addo said in a speech at the 75th anniversary celebrations of North Rhine-Westphalia, a top industrial region in Germany. During the visit, the president expressed his determination for Ghana to wholeheartedly participate in the global marketplace not only as a supplier of raw materials but as a leading exporter of manufactured goods.



The messages were clear and consistent. Endowed with natural resources and human capital, Ghana wanted to take accountability for its own growth and economic development without relying solely on aid from former colonial masters.



The country had not been without its share of crises and difficulties. On the economic front, its over-reliance on gold and cocoa exports meant that there was little in the way of diversification with inflation peaking at 17.46%.



After the president won the 2016 elections and came to power in 2017, new oil fields were found with production starting in 2017 and jumping to 60 million barrels which resulted in a boost in oil export revenues, pushing the country’s economic growth above 6% for each of the three years to 2019, according to Reuters.



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<h1 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading" id="h-nana-akufo-addo-has-been-adjudged-the-2021-african-of-the-year-previous-winners-of-the-coveted-award-include-rwandan-president-paul-kagame-2018-president-of-the-african-development-bank-akinwumi-adesina-2019-and-world-trade-organization-director-general-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-2020">Nana Akufo-Addo has been adjudged the ‘2021 African of the Year’. Previous winners of the coveted award include Rwandan President Paul Kagame (2018), President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina (2019) and World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (2020).</h1>



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During that period, inflation receded to less than 10% for the first time in six years in 2018, according to figures from Ghana’s ministry of finance. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected a GDP growth rate of 8.8% in 2019 for Ghana as the fastest-growing economy in subSaharan Africa (SSA). A March 2018 article in The New York Times said:“Now, as oil prices rise again and the country’s oil production rapidly expands, Ghana is on track to make a remarkable claim for a country mired in poverty not long ago: It is likely to have one of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year, according to the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Brookings Institution.”



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="748" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-1024x748.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-44771 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-1024x748.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-300x219.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-600x438.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-768x561.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina-1536x1122.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/PRST-Adesina.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“I would like to warmly congratulate H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, on being named Forbes Africa&#8217;s &#8216;African of the Year.&#8217; This is an excellent and very well-deserved honour and recognition. As a leader, you continue to push the boundaries of what is possible for Ghana and the people of Africa. You are an embodiment of a remarkable &#8216;can-do&#8217; African spirit&#8230; a spirit of focused determination that seeks to make a difference in the lives of your people and unleash Africa&#8217;s true potential. Once again, congratulations and warm felicitations.&#8221;<cite>Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group </cite></blockquote>




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A May 2019 article in the World Economic Forum concurred: “Just three decades ago, Ghana was in crisis; impoverished and suffering famine, it was on the verge of economic collapse. Fast-forward to the present day, the West African nation has staged a remarkable comeback and is predicted to be the world’s fastest-growing economy in 2019.”



The economic growth was not just buoyed by the discovery of oil but also what many economic pundits considered to be sound fiscal policies wrapped in a peaceful democracy. The world noticed. Companies such as Google, which in its bid to position itself as an ‘AI first’ company with already established centers in strategic cities such as Tokyo, Zurich and Paris, made the decision to open its first Artificial Intelligence center in Africa in Accra in 2019.



Exxon Mobil in 2018 moved to sign a deep-water oil exploration deal with Ghana after the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea drew a new ocean boundary favoring Ghana over the Ivory Coast in 2017, according to a Reuters report.



In 2020, automobile major Volkswagen expanded its footprint in SSA with the opening of a vehicle assembly facility in Accra, making Ghana its fifth vehicle assembly location in SSA (after South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda). And in April 2021, social media giant Twitter sent shock waves across the bigger economic hubs in Africa when it chose Ghana as its regional headquarters.



What has also been loudly clear has been Akufo-Addo’s deliberate strategy to involve the diaspora in the country’s economic growth. In September 2018, the president launched a year-long initiative to commemorate “the 400th anniversary of the firstrecorded forced arrival of enslaved African people to the United States” and dubbed it the Year of the Return, Ghana 2019.



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Congratulations President <a href="https://twitter.com/NAkufoAddo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NAkufoAddo</a> of Ghana on being named the African of the Year 2021 by the Forbes Africa Magazine. Thank you for your great leadership and all you do in positively projecting Africa. We are very proud of you, Your Excellency. 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 <a href="https://twitter.com/forbesafrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@forbesafrica</a> <a href="https://t.co/TfAp8lX1Ao">https://t.co/TfAp8lX1Ao</a>&mdash; Akinwumi A. Adesina (@akin_adesina) <a href="https://twitter.com/akin_adesina/status/1467119088245870595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2021</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The President called for not just Ghanaians but people of African descent, including African-Americans, to return to Africa, or more specifically Ghana, in what was to be a reconnection with their roots. New visitors arriving to the shores of Ghana were welcomed to a shiny, newly-refurbished airport which was adjudged winner of best airport by passenger volume on the continent according to Airports Council International. In what is perhaps the president’s biggest PR campaign and by far the country’s loudest communication drive, it was estimated that the Year of the Return campaign resulted in an additional 237,000 visitors to Ghana accounting for a 45% increase compared to the previous year and thereby injecting $1.9 billion into the Ghanaian economy, according to figures from the Ghana Tourism Authority.



The country also made strides in the international bond market, raising $3 billion on the international debt market using a four-year zero-coupon bond tranche.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-53595" width="647" height="472" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927-300x219.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/GettyImages-1133592927-768x561.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 647px) 100vw, 647px" /><figcaption>President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo delivers the Keynote Address for the 2019 10th Annual Africa Development Conference at Harvard University (Photo by Paul Marotta/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



“This historic bond issuance is a strong signal that investors have confidence in our plan for debt sustainability, economic recovery and growth,” said Ghana’s finance minister Ken OforiAtta, as reported in Reuters.



And where investors have confidence, foreign direct investments (FDI) follow. According to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), despite the pandemic, total investment inflows reached $2,796.49 million in 2020, with a total FDI value of $2,650.97 million accounting for a 139.06% increase over 2019.



This means some 279 projects were registered within the year amounting to an estimate of 27,110 jobs being generated from those projects. Another plus? The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement which came into effect from January 2021. Ghana was selected amongst its peers as the trading bloc’s Secretariat. 



The AfCFTA is estimated to create a single continental market for goods and services covering a market of 1.2 billion people and accounting for a combined GDP of $3 trillion.



“As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate. Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate. Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa,” says Uche Adegbite, Director, Product Management at Twitter on the company’s ‘Twitter’s presence in Africa’ blog post.



These milestones, in a historic pandemic period, could have played a part in the re-election of the 77-year-old statesman for a second term as Ghana’s president, from January 2021.



With a long lineage of political luminaries as ancestors, it was perhaps in Akufo-Addo’s destiny to lead the country.



Prior to assuming office as president, he practised as a human rights lawyer in France and England. His father, Edward Akufo-Addo, who was a lawyer, was the nation’s president in the late 1960s and one of the founding fathers of Ghana.



“Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, an indefatigable visionary, has not only inspired his country but the continent of Africa to rise up and shine. He has, through his aspirations and efforts, transformed Ghana into a modern economy. His influence has reached beyond Ghana to the continent, pleading the case of a Ghana Beyond Aid thereby infusing a great dose of confidence to transform the continent. This is positively changing the narrative and bringing real hope of a brighter future to Africa’s youth. Primus inter pares [first among equals],” says Yofi Grant, CEO of GIPC, to FORBES AFRICA.



When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the country revised its 7% growth projections to about 1%, but it did not slip into recession.



The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) recorded an impressive 36.13% in dollar terms for investors in the first half of 2021, with a market capitalization of GHC61.3 billion ($10 billion).



“Ghana has been consistently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world for each of the last four years, notwithstanding the decline of GDP growth to 0.9% in 2020 as a result of Covid-19,” says Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of Ghana, to FORBES AFRICA.



Bawumia lists key indicators such as the reduction of lending rates from 32% in 2016 to 21% in 2020, increasing gross international reserves from $6.1 billion in 2016 to $8.6 billion in 2020, the upgrade of Ghana’s first credit rating in 10 years from B- in 2016 to B with a stable outlook, and the implementation of the ‘one district, one warehouse’ as well as the ‘one district, one factory’ initiatives.



Another area of focus is Ghana’s growing youth population.



There is a push to create an enabling environment for technology startups and for small and medium entrepreneurs to thrive.



According to a World Bank report, Ghana Digital Economy Diagnostic, the Ghanaian government is spearheading the adoption of digital financial services (DFS) through the National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy 2017-2023, which makes the government accountable to measures to achieving universal access to DFS as well as creating an Africa-wide payments infrastructure by 2030.



For full Q &amp; A with Nana Akufo-Addo, <a href="https://shop.forbesafrica.com/product/single-digital-issue-african-of-the-year-dec-jan-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">click here to download your Digital Copy </a>



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AFRICAN OF THE YEAR: NANA AKUFO-ADDO

The scene is not picture-perfect yet, but ace photographers are slowly capturing the creative market in Ghana.



WHEN THE iconic Ghanaian photographer Emmanuel Bobbie, known widely by the moniker ‘Bob Pixel’, tragically passed away in February this year, the news sent shockwaves through the creative industry in Ghana. Bobbie had become a hero to a battery of young and upcoming Ghanaian photographers steadily following in his footsteps to build their own brands and enterprises, hoping to make it in the sector, a move exacerbated by the growing youth unemployment in the West African country. 



Bobbie was one of the pioneers and enablers of this transformation with his work celebrated both in Ghana and the world. His death reportedly attributed to Covid-19, turns the spotlight on the creative economy in Ghana. Whilst the pandemic has seen a renaissance of all things digital, it has also applied to the photography industry that now seems to be rapidly attracting a retinue of talented young men and women finding their feet in the once not-so-lucrative and unattractive sector. 



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile" style="grid-template-columns:37% auto"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="683" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Asante-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-51906 size-full" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Asante-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Asante-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Asante-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Asante-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Asante-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Asante-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">It becomes very difficult for a startup because unlike developed countries, where you get funding and co-funding, in Ghana, that did not exist and the systems are not right to enable you to set up. – Gilbert Asante</blockquote>
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One such beneficiary of this growth is Gilbert Asante, who has been making an impression on social media and the corporate world with his photography.



Spotting a gap in the market for quality images when he began his career many years ago as a web designer, many of Asante’s photos have gone viral and been trend-setting in Ghana. 



Some of the biggest celebrities and corporate brands have queued up to the doorsteps of Laceup Media, the bespoke production house offering services covering every sphere of advertising, from graphic design to billboards, videography and commercials. 



Asante moonlights as a creative director for the company as well as being his own photography brand. 



“When I started, photography wasn’t a big thing as it is now. So, I would design a website with my team for a restaurant and the images [will be] terrible so it [would end] up making the website [look] very tacky. So that is what pushed me to invest in a camera. I just needed some decent photos. 



“At that time, there were no top photographers. So, I said ‘why don’t I take a camera and take a picture and add this to the website’. So, after that, things became curious in terms of ‘how do I make these pictures look like what I see in international publications’,” says Asante. 



His inspiration to delve deeper into the world of conceptual photography came about after a brief visit to the art centres of Japan. When he returned to Ghana, Asante knew he had found his calling. A self-taught photographer, he is now a name in the industry for his glamorous fashion shoots and out-of-the-box creative direction. But his success has been no walk in the park.



“The biggest issue I have is not based on photography but based on setting up a business in Ghana generally and that really cuts across all the sectors. It becomes very difficult for a startup because unlike developed countries, where you get funding and co-funding, in Ghana, that did not exist and the systems are not right to enable you to set up,” says Asante. 



While he was busy contending with these institutional issues, Elorm Ayayee pursued a career as a multilingual translator elsewhere. Fluent in French and Spanish, today, the founder of Elorm Ayayee Portraiture, a legacy portrait photography business in Ghana, was desperately searching for a career where she could make the most impact in the lives of people. 



“I was at a point in my career that I wasn’t making a contribution and I had worked myself into a system and at the core, I was against that. I don’t like being in a box or a cog in the wheel,” recalls Ayayee. 



Being a creative at heart, Ayayee went into publishing and worked as a ghostwriter for clients amongst many other things. 



“Photography was never on the horizon and never something I had considered… I came back to Ghana and was working with a company that did medical and surgical systems and I got married and had kids and then I realized that I had to make the call and I couldn’t have it all. I had to decide between my career and who I wanted to be as a family woman.” 



She made the tough decision to quit her career. 



“At that point, I had not been idle or jobless for over 20 years. I was always on the go and handling multiple things. I suddenly found myself with nothing to do. So, I took a trip to see my mum. One day, she had a program she had to go to and needed a photo of herself. It was the weekend and no one could do it and so she gave me my dad’s camera and I took a photo of her and until today, she says it is one of the best photos of her life.”



And just like that, Ayayee got hooked on photography. The Elorm Ayayee brand has been able to emerge as one of the top photography outlets in Ghana. Her popularity grew with time due to her ability to take captivating images of women, especially older women. 



“I immediately hooked on to what I thought my personal contribution would be. And that was birthed [by] seeing how my mother’s photo of herself impacted her and the other people and I said ‘this is my motivating factor’; seeing the way a woman sees herself when she looks at a photograph was amazing.” 



Both Ayayee and Asante are living proof of how lucrative the photography industry can be. But there is still a long way to go for upcoming talent. 



“A lot of people don’t see the business aspect of photography. There is so much big business from it and a lot of people don’t understand that and that is why they see photography as some job that is not going to give you so much security,” says Asante. 



For Ayayee, she knew the key to winning was to zone in on a specific demographic. 



“I was very clear about what I wanted to do. My niche was established when I started. I started out photographing women and I only took images of women above 50. And that kept me busy because I was offering a service that at the time didn’t really exist. I was very resolute about what type of images I wanted and my target audience,” says Ayayee. 



For Asante, on the other hand, the lack of any institutional investment meant he had to find other means to launch his business. 



“Laceup was started with about $4,000 which was money my partner and I put in at that time to purchase a few things. This was money I had saved from my previous work as a web designer. And my partner fielded the other half of it. It wasn’t that much in the beginning and we decided to build on that and make a lot of sacrifices in terms of the income coming in and how we could put it back in the business and make the company bigger. That is what helped us grow to the level we are now,” says Asante. 



Both Ayayee and Asante charge anywhere from $1,000 upwards depending on the packages they offer. 



“I didn’t start to be priced affordably because I was a mother of three and I had a limited amount of time. I felt like I had a very unparalleled skill-set which I translated into the cost I wished to receive for my work,” says Ayayee. 



The biggest hurdle in the photography business, according to Asante, is access to quality equipment. 



“All the equipment we use is imported. Every single one of them; even the backdrop paper we use for photography and that is difficult. We don’t even have servicing companies here so if cameras or equipment break down, you have to send it back to the UK and that was one of the biggest challenges we had in the beginning.” 



These are just some of the early-stage lessons they can impart to younger aspirants in the country. Zion Market Research estimated the global demand for digital photography at around $77.6 billion in 2015, projected to reach $110.8 billion by this year, and with so many young starry-eyed hopefuls still looking to make ends meet in Ghana, at least they have emerging role models who have looked through a more creative lens and proven that clicks can convert to cash.

Elom

Ghanaian Photographers On How Their Creative Businesses Click

A look back at Ghana&#8217;s closely-contested 2020 presidential elections, and views from both sides.



On December 7, 2020, 13,434,574 votes were counted in Ghana’s 2020 democratic elections. Vying for the head of state position were two opponents who had faced off at the ballot box twice before, former President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo representing the New Patriotic Party (NPP).&nbsp;



In an economic climate ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic and a number of catastrophic political tensions that have temporarily decimated peace in countries like Tanzania, Guinea and Uganda, the eyes of the world were once again firmly fixed on Ghana, a poster child of democracy for the African continent, after seven peaceful transitions of power in its 30-year democratic history.



For President Akufo-Addo, this was the fourth presidential election he had campaigned for back-to-back since 2008. This time, however, his campaign strategy was based on his track record. He urged Ghanaians to remember his pledges in the NPP’s 2016 manifesto which promised, among other things, to abolish fees at public and senior high schools, ensure each district has a factory and a hospital, and establishing a special anti-corruption prosecutor.



“I think President Akufo-Addo has delivered on everything he promised and where he has not delivered, it is still a work in progress. There is now free education in public schools, which has helped thousands of children be able to get an education, and factories and hospital construction have began in each district. Nobody is perfect but at least we need someone who has a vision that the country can follow at this time and that is what President Akufo-Addo and the NPP have. Where is the vision of the NDC party?” asks Emmanuel Asare-Amankwa, a businessman in Ghana.



That vision it seems was enough to propel President Akufo-Addo to the top position once again with 6,730,413 votes representing 51.59% of the votes, narrowly beating former President Mahama’s 6,214,889 or 47.36%.



“Usually in an election, it is normal for the winning party to also win a majority of the seats in parliament but this was not the case. The NDC have actually won a majority of the parliamentary seats and that shows you that there is something wrong here,” says John Dumelo, an actor-turned-politician with the NDC party.&nbsp;



Dumelo contested for the Ayawaso West parliamentary primaries, also losing by a tight margin of just 2,000 votes. The leading actor with over 3 million followers on Instagram is still happy about the impact his candidacy has made.



“I think it is important for the youth of Ghana to join politics because we need to have a voice in our own future. I run in a state that was traditionally an NPP stronghold and we lost by only 2,000 votes so it shows you that people were desperate for a change. I know I have made an impact.



“I decided to run because as an actor, you are limited by how many good deeds you can do. How many bore holes can one build in a village, or how many philanthropic acts can you do before actually making real change? By being in politics, you have the opportunity to influence the law and that is real power and real change,” avers Dumelo.



President Akufo-Addo may have his work cut out for him in his second term. Out of the 275 parliamentarians, his party lost a handful of seats and only secured 137 seats against the NDC’s 136 seats. 



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-49330" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/John-Dumelo-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“I think it is important for the youth of Ghana to join politics because we need to have a voice in our own future.” – John Dumelo</blockquote>
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“The loss of a clear majority is going to be a challenge for President Akufo-Addo to easily implement his policies and his vision for Ghana but it is certainly not impossible. Ghana needs strong leadership and I believe President Akufo-Addo is the best man for the job especially after the way he handled Ghana’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Victor Oppong, a stock-broker in Ghana.



On the top of the president’s agenda is implementing the $17 billion program to boost growth in Ghana’s economy. His win is one that is welcomed by the investment community in Ghana. In August this year, President Akufo-Addo ushered in the opening of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat in Accra, a pioneering project by the African Union’s Agenda 2063 that will create $3 trillion of GDP.&nbsp;



“The country has demonstrated the confidence it has in President Nana Akufo-Addo by voting him to stay in office. This confidence is also demonstrated by the business community who clearly are excited about the opportunities that the CFTA will bring particularly with a Ghana Beyond Aid agenda. Ghana through exemplary leadership has shown resilience and robustness in the face of the pandemic and recovery has accelerated.”



“By end of the third quarter, FDI had climbed up to over a billion dollars through projects in mining, energy and manufacturing. And this is instructive of the confidence of investors in the Ghana story. Aggressive reforms will continue to ensure a very competitive investor and business climate. All in all, continuity and sustainability in the good Ghana story, satisfactory control of the pandemic, a robust economic recovery and revitalization plan will do well for Ghana going forward,” says Yofi Grant, CEO of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.



‘A Man In A Hurry’



Valerie Obaze, the daughter of President Nana Akufo-Addo and entrepreneur, spoke to FORBES AFRICA after the win:“Less than 24 hours after hearing the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission declare Nana Akufo-Addo (my father) as the winner of the 2020 presidential race, we as a family are all relieved. This is despite the confidence with which we approached this election, believing strongly that his excellent leadership over four years was more than enough for Ghanaians to give him a second term. However, elections and anxiety are not all that unfamiliar to our family. We have been here before.&nbsp;



“To know Nana Akufo-Addo personally, like I have the privilege to do, is to know a selfless man, who is constant, perseveres and has a heart for his people. He has dedicated his adult life to the struggle for a free, democratic and prosperous Ghana.&nbsp;



“Our father is a workaholic and at his age, we even wonder where he gets his energy from. He enjoys working and we sometimes feel sorry for those who work closely with him. He is in the office everyday from morning to midnight and even then when he gets home you would be lucky if he doesn’t move straight into his study.  



<div class="wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile"><figure class="wp-block-media-text__media"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="683" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-683x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-49332" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-200x300.jpeg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-1365x2048.jpeg 1365w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-300x450.jpeg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-600x900.jpeg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Valerie-Obaze-scaled.jpeg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“To know Nana Akufo-Addo personally, like I have the privilege to do, is to know a selfless man, who is constant, perseveres and has a heart for his people. He has dedicated his adult life to the struggle for a free, democratic and prosperous Ghana.” – Valerie Obaze</blockquote>
</div></div>



“He is a man in a hurry: to see his country develop; the lives of the people enhanced, and Ghana become an example for the rest of Africa. I am excited about his second term because it coincides with the agenda to finally build an integrated Africa. My father will play a major role in this, especially with Ghana as the secretariat for AfCFTA. The election is over and in his words, “time to get back to work”. We as his family will always be proud of how tirelessly he is working to make his dream to see Ghana holding its own in the international realm come true. He has restored confidence in the Ghanaian and we are all excited about the future of our country, and by extension, our continent.”

GHANA-VOTE

The Road To A $17 Billion Program To Boost Ghana’s Economy, and Words From The First Daughter

Ghana and Nigeria brace for the economic nightmare ahead, even as the region’s billionaires, entrepreneurs and innovators chip in for the fight against Covid-19.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



The Labadi Beach Hotel, set amidst landscaped tropical gardens in the heart of Accra, is unusually quiet on the Tuesday morning FORBES AFRICA visits in mid-March. The usual bustle of the morning breakfast buffet frequented by the city’s elite has all but disappeared, and in its place, an air of uncertainty about the future of one of Accra’s longest-running hotels, at least in the interim.



You cannnot enter without going through the new mandatory protocols in place: hand-sanitizers, individual temperature screenings and metal detectors.



“Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting outside guests and the hotel will be closing until further notice,” says the bartender. The usually-packed lobby has only two in-house guests already scheduled to leave the hotel.



Ghana’s thriving hospitality industry was one of the first victims of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, once President Nana Akufo-Addo banned mass gatherings and ordered the closure of airports. Hotels in the Greater Accra region closed down, sending thousands of workers home, and leaving management to contend with the challenge of paying salaries and taxes sans customers.



It’s in stark contrast to 2019, when Ghana’s international PR campaign, The Year of Return 2019, brought in an additional 237,000 visitors representing an estimated $1.9 billion into the economy, according to Barbara Oteng Gyasi, Ghana’s Minister of Tourism. Most of the money was spent on the hospitality sector with the average spend per tourist estimated to be around $2,590.



And now, with the slow demise of the hospitality sector, a host of ancillary services are also feeling the pinch. Rashad McCrorey is the founder of Africa Cross Culture, a travel company that helps African-Americans reconnect to their roots by visiting countries on the African continent. He was one of those seduced by Ghana’s call to reconnect with the continent on the 400th anniversary of slaves landing in the United States, and so he arrived in Ghana with the goal of promoting his tourism business.



Ghana imposed a lockdown on movement in its two largest cities, Accra and Kumasi, from March 30, and effected a travel ban on people traveling from countries overseas with cases of Covid-19. In addition, the United States (US) State Department advised its citizens to return home immediately or face staying abroad for an indefinite period. “I was shocked. My initial thoughts were fear and panic. I was seeing all the development in the US, and New York has the highest amount of cases. The National Guard and US army had been deployed in the streets and my home was basically ground zero for the deadly virus,” says McCrorey.



After weighing his options, he made the decision to stay on in Ghana instead of returning home.



“At the time, ticket prices surged from $500 to about $6,000 and I was scared of exposing myself more to the virus. Also, going back meant that I risked spending the pre-paid money of my customers and that was also not ideal,” says McCrorey.



Gregory Lamptey, the founder of Black Cab, a logistics company providing transportation services to customers and businesses in Accra, is facing a similar conundrum. “Business has all but stopped since the lockdown in Ghana last week. I do not think we will be able to make it to the end of the year and I have had to start looking at other alternatives to make ends meet,” he rues.



In Ghana, there were 4,700 confirmed cases with 22 deaths as of May 12. Ghana has undertaken 160,501 tests since the outbreak as of this date, a figure the president lauded as the highest per million people than any other country in Africa.



But as elsewhere on the continent, it’s the workers in the informal sector that are most at risk.



“They face a very difficult choice: keep going to work and risk contracting or spreading the virus, or stay at home and risk their family starving,” observes Nana Kwame Bediako, the founder of Kwarleyz Group, an umbrella company which encompasses Wonda World Estates and Petronia City Development that has designed and developed over 500 residential and retail units in Ghana. The company is currently negotiating to pledge one of its premier properties, Number 1 Oxford Street, five-star luxury serviced apartments, as a quarantine location, isolation center, temporary hospital or safe place for nurses, doctors and other medical personnel should the need arise.



“This is the most challenging economic downturn globally,” says Franklin Cudjoe, President of Imani-Africa, a leading think-tank in Ghana. “This is going to affect businesses all over the world in a much more significant way than ever before.”



This was perhaps the rationale behind Ghana easing its lockdown restrictions in less than a month to allow people to return to work. There is, however, still a ban on public gatherings and a national requirement for face masks to be worn by everyone.



But Kwame Ofori, a financial analyst with the Ghana Stock Exchange, is currently on the fence on how the Ghanaian economy will recover.



“Everything depends on how long this period lasts, but if it goes on for a long time, it’s going to be a big financial and economic crisis for Ghana. Most businesses in Ghana cannot realistically afford a lockdown,” avers Ofori.



It is within this context that Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s Minister of Finance, said in a Financial Times interview that Africa has reached a “break the glass moment”.



Through a partnership between the ministers of finance and economic planning on March 30, a series of strategies were outlined, which includes fiscal measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic including the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme. Consequently, the government estimates of the immediate impact of Covid-19 is a decline in GDP growth from a projected 6.8% to 2.6%.



Along the pristine coastline of the Labadi Beach, sits a five-storey apartment complex boasting beautiful ocean views, underground parking for tenants, a gymnasium, two restaurants and a supermarket. The developer, Kofi Appiah, is a British-Ghanaian architect who relocated to Ghana two years ago.



“I started building and selling a couple of years ago in Ghana and things were great. Right now, we cannot even get anyone to come and look at our developments. I have had to lay off the entire sales team and we are now depending on social media to attract buyers,” says Appiah.



“Buyers need to imagine themselves living in the apartments and this is very difficult to imagine with just videos and pictures on Instagram. I don’t imagine we are going to be selling any of these units at least for the next six months.”



About 40 minutes from Ghana, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is also battening down the hatches. With plunging oil prices caused by the price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, and the novel coronavirus outbreak, Nigeria is in a much more precarious economic position.



Nigerian stocks have gone through weeks of losses with the fall in oil prices from $57 to $30 per barrel subsequently leading to an increase in external debt and a depreciating currency. This year, Nigeria’s budget stood at $37 billion based on oil prices staying at $57 per barrel. With the sharp decline in these prices, Nigeria cannot currently fund its budget.



“Nigeria might very well be in trouble here. Even though Parliament recently granted President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for $22.7 billion in foreign borrowing, the significant fall in global oil prices will erode any boost from this stimulus. Many analysts are of the opinion that the Nigerian naira has deteriorated markedly and remains set for a sharp fall this year if current conditions persist,” says Ofori.



One of the major side-effects of this in the country is a US dollar shortage that is creeping up with the informal dollar dealers on the black market. Nigeria’s official exchange rate which is fixed by the central bank, has stayed at around N360 to the dollar since the country emerged out of recession in 2017. Today, the rate is N445.



“Everyone is currently hunting for dollars and we don’t have any more. Even the agents we get them from are not releasing the dollars because they believe the rates will go even higher so this is becoming a big problem,” says Audu, a black-market agent.



The coronavirus is simply adding insult to injury for Nigeria’s economic woes. As of May 12, there are over 5,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Nigeria. The country issued a nationwide lockdown between March and April but similar to Ghana, has eased restrictions on movement to enable its 200 million population to return to work while practising social distancing.



Billionaire Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, announced a donation of essential medical supplies to help fight the pandemic. Along with making global headlines, his actions have also galvanized other private businesses and Nigeria’s most successful entrepreneurs to utilize their assets and funds for social good amid the devastating outbreak.



Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holding and United Bank for Africa (UBA), announced N5 billion ($12.8 million), through the UBA foundation, to kick-start a comprehensive pan-African response to the fight against the coronavirus. The donation is aimed at providing significant support to Nigeria and other African countries through the provision of critical care facilities and materials.



“I believe we all have a part to play in this global crisis and I hope that this is the time the private sector and government work together to help the most vulnerable people to battle the virus. We need to act fast and we commend the work the government is already doing to ensure we stem the spread of this global pandemic,” says Elumelu.



For African countries, this virus is expected to overwhelm an already insufficient healthcare system and reverse the economic growth that many countries have been experiencing in recent years. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has revised Africa’s growth, falling from 3.2% to 2%.



“We need to deal with the human crisis first before we can begin to address the economic impact of the virus on us. I am confident we will pull through this crisis just like we have in several other adverse situations that have come before,” says Oscar Onyema, CEO of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.



Nigeria’s richest woman, Folorunso Alakija, is also stepping in to help fight the pandemic. Through her Famfa Oil, one of the leading indigenous exploration and oil production companies in Nigeria, she has pledged N1 billion ($2.56 million) to support Nigeria’s fight against Covid-19.



“These are truly difficult times for us. As the world rallies to deal with the health security, economic and social implications of the coronavirus, it is clear we feel the effects more deeply than most of the developed world. Managing a crisis of this magnitude means that the strength of our response will determine our ability to weather the storm but I believe with God, nothing is impossible,” says Alakija.



“Millions of Nigerians are under 30 and live from hand-to-mouth and quite frankly, cannot afford a lockdown. They depend on going out each day to earn a living on the streets as well as buying food from crowded markets. If this lockdown continues, there could be a mass unrest which could further cripple Nigeria,” says Idrisu Bello, a Nigerian economist.



President Buhari in an address in March ordered financial intervention schemes to be rolled out for the most vulnerable.



“This represents about 10,695,360 individuals in 35 states across the country as the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians,” says Bello.



The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has also pledged N200 million ($516,000) to support the current effort of the Nigerian government to fight the disease.



Zouera Youssoufou, Managing Director and CEO of ADF, says the donation is part of the foundation’s cardinal objective of partnering with governments to combat the disease.



“The Dangote Foundation has been at the forefront of helping Nigerians fight against diseases and providing economic development for Nigeria. At this very difficult time, we are committed to providing the much-needed support to help the government provide help to millions of vulnerable Nigerians,” says Youssoufou.



As corona cases continue to rise, Nigeria, along with other African countries, has also shut its airports and air travel.



The International Air Transport Association (IATA)&nbsp; estimates that around 330,000 jobs and $1.2 billion are at stake in Ethiopia’s economy, around 190,000 jobs and $3.8 billion in South Africa’s economy, around 138,000 jobs and $1.1 billion to Kenya’s economy and 91,000 jobs in Nigeria with $650 million lost.



Then there is the worrying problem of medical care.



Lagos-based air ambulance and offshore medical solutions contractor Flying Doctors Nigeria, founded and run by entrepreneur Ola Brown, is calling this a true pandemic.



“Africa has to be cautious because of the challenges we have in our healthcare. There are significant deficits and a huge lack of medical and financial resources which means we face an unprecedented time ahead,” says Brown.



However, in spite of the insurmountable challenges, a number of local entrepreneurs are providing innovative solutions to help the government in its fight against the disease.



Accra-based company DTRT Apparel is gearing up to manufacture a range of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to supply Africa and the rest of the world. DTRT supplies products to major US and EU-based brands via a global network spanning three continents. The company employs over 2,000 people in West Africa, procures textiles from Asia and exports primarily to the EU and US markets.



“Now is the time for companies all over Africa to work together for the greater good of the continent. We want to do our part to ensure we are contributing to the fight against this pandemic by providing resources to the healthcare system,” says Salma Salifu, Managing Director of DTRT.



In Nigeria, Bamigbose Adams, a furniture-maker, has begun turning old metal drums into custom hand-washing basins to be sold in Lagos.



Around 157 million Nigerians lack access to proper hand-washing facilities, according to a 2018 report by WaterAid Nigeria and Adams saw this as an opportunity to innovate to survive.



“Business has been slow for a while so I was looking at different ways of making money to feed my family. I got the idea to use the drum from my local area where some people use them to store water. I created the first drum and it worked and then the publicity began to create a demand,” says Adams.



His main clients are local businesses that want a temporary solution to help combat the spread of the virus.



As governments rally to find solutions to help their economies, it is very clear that the way we live and do business will not be the same. Ever again.

GHANA-HEALTH-VIRUS

Fast Virus. Slow Growth: Ghana And Nigeria Brace For The Economic Nightmare Ahead

In the coastal country’s capital Accra, the South African musician savored street food and a different kind of music, in tandem with the sound of the waves.



For Unathi Nkayi, life is all about investing in experiences, be it in her music or her travel sojourns.



The popular South African musician and Idols South Africa judge has lived in and visited several countries around the world, but one of her most abiding memories of a holiday was last year in the coastal African country Ghana.



“I felt the beauty of the continent in Ghana and her pride and respect and her anointing,” Nkayi tells FORBES AFRICA.



In December, she accompanied a friend who was traveling to the West African country, and spent six days in the capital Accra, well into the New Year.



They stayed at the Mövenpick, situated on a busy street down the road from the military base, the presidential house and in close proximity to the beach.



“I’m a beach person so wherever I travel for leisure, I have to be on the coast,” says Nkayi.



On New Year’s Day, she was at one of Ghana’s most popular beaches, Labadi Beach, and it was the most beautiful she had seen – and what attracted her to it more, were the Afro beats emanating from it as she arrived at the parking lot.



The air was spiked with a medley of music, from Burna Boy to Tiwa Savage to D’banj and Wizkid.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="768" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46761" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IMG-0332.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



As she sauntered closer to the white sandy shores, the music got louder and it became apparent it came from the restaurants serving food to serpentine queues of visitors on the beach.



With music in the air, and the clear blue waters of the ocean under her feet, Nkayi experienced a serene calm as she closed her eyes and shut out her city life in far-away Johannesburg.



The two-hour professional spa massage she received on the beach, with the sound of the waves in her ear, made her de-stress totally. After that, it was time for some soul food on the busy streets of Accra.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="1024" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1024x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46759" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-171155842-80x80.jpg 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption>Busy Nima area.</figcaption></figure>



“You park on the streets and your table and chairs are on the street. And then, they bring you a tank with live fish and you choose,” she says of the unique experience savoring local delicacies.



She relished her fish with jollof rice and some plantain, the local staples that took her on a culinary journey.



“It was very multicultural in that sense, and experiencing the vastness of Ghana which is absolutely beautiful.”



Apart from the food, the culture and the scenery, Nkayi greatly appreciated the people.



“They are the most gracious people I have met,” she says of their welcoming nature.



Nkayi grew up in Namibia, England and Wales, studied in the Netherlands and Spain, has traveled to France and Belgium, but says nothing compares to visiting countries like Ghana.



“There’s a grace and respect I feel that I don’t feel in the rest of the world,” she says. “It is almost royal.”



She was especially impressed with the way Ghanaian men treat women.



“They adore women… there’s a deliberate acknowledgement of the feminine presence of power,” she says.



Hailing from a country where the femicide rate is one of the highest in the world, she was struck by these genteel attributes.



“For example, there are certain things I do not wear in South Africa. There are certain parts of my closet I only go to when I go on holiday [to places like Ghana], and that is because I know that the West African man will not whistle at me, and he will not call me ma bhebheza [meaning ‘my baby’ as a form of cat-calling].



“There’s an adoration West Africa has for women that I don’t get to experience in any other part of the world,” she says, adding this is something all countries could learn from.



More on Ghanaian hospitality: on one particular morning in Accra, she and her friend visited a local couple who cooked them a three-course meal for brunch.



Alcohol of every kind was offered, including some of the finest from Nkayi’s home country, South Africa.



But what she loved most was the sauce that accompanied her meal.



“There’s a Ghanaian fish sauce I love called shito,” she says.



It’s a hot pepper soup that consists of fish or vegetable oil, ginger, dried fish, prawns, crustaceans, tomatoes, garlic, peppers and spices.



The couple gifted her with three jars of shito that they made, which she carried back home, and thrust into her freezer, so she could enjoy them for longer.



And what can South Africa learn from Ghana?



“Everything!” says Nkayi.



“We need to be more open, and we need to be more hospitable. We need to look at our own continent the same way we marvel at traveling to America or Europe… Africa is beautiful and I marvel at how complex she is.”



Nkayi hopes to visit Ghana again, but not just yet.



Her next trip is to another pristine beach, at Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, for the carnival in February 2020.

H&M reveals collaboration with African brand Mantsho

#ExecutiveTravel: Unathi Nkayi’s Ghana

The 32-year-old South African comedian traveled to the West
African country for some eye-opening experiences.



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South African comedian, actor and entrepreneur, Mpho ‘Popps’
Modikoane, is a frequent traveler but ask him about his happy place and he says
it’s a little corner of Africa named Ghana. 



He has traveled overseas before, but it was his travels
within Africa that opened his eyes to the magic of the continent, and made him
realize that all Africans have the same stories and are essentially the same. 



“It’s just these borders we were brought up [in that] we
don’t take the time to learn about each other’s cultures and share each other’s
stories,” says Modikoane.



“I’ve traveled to a lot of countries over the years and
early on in my career, I was in the US. A few years ago, I went to Canada for
the annual Just For Laughs international comedy festival and these places are
amazing, but traveling in Africa has been the most eye-opening for me.” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="461" height="618" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4.png" alt="" class="wp-image-41440" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4.png 461w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4-300x402.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho4-224x300.png 224w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /><figcaption> Mpho ‘Popps’ Modikoane in Ghana. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



&nbsp;Modikoane’s career kick-started in 2009 on the reality TV show, So You Think You’re Funny? His growing audiences haven’t stopped laughing since. 



With fame, came the chances to travel. His very first trip
to West Africa was to Nigeria on Arik Air two years ago, when he flew business
class.



“I don’t know what it is about us [black people], but when
we don’t have things, we don’t see why it’s necessary – we don’t understand why
we have to pay R30,000 ($2,000) for a seat, a leather seat,” he says,
chuckling.



He goes on to elaborate with his trademark wit: “The seat is
reclined all the way, we are drinking champagne in glasses; I didn’t even know
there were glasses on planes…. Even forks and knives. And in business class,
you don’t get shouted at by the attendants for reclining your seat four
centimeters back, never! Even the magazines are not the same – we get business
magazines and informative magazines. We even have a food menu with pages.”



That was his trip to Nigeria when on the ground, he was
impressed by the hard work of the locals, the hustle and bustle of the streets
and everything from bikes and Maybachs driving past him. 



However, Ghana was his most memorable destination where he stayed five days.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">“Ghana just looks beautiful and is next to Nigeria and they have this feud going on about who makes the best jollof rice and after tasting both, I have to give it up to Ghana,” says the comedian.&nbsp; </blockquote>



What he also loved about Ghana was its orderliness, and the
warmth of the people. 



&nbsp; What impressed
Modikoane was that the people did not wait for the government to give them
handouts and opportunities; the locals were willing to work hard to find them. 



“The people there work outside of their work, have a
business outside of their job and that’s the one thing I’ve come to realize
about traveling in Africa. We [South Africans] are sitting in the land of
opportunity but we are not working as hard as those from other parts of Africa.
That is the magic of going to these places and spending time with other artists
or musicians who also may have [on the side] their own clothing store, a
restaurant, a barber shop…” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="824" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-41441" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3.png 824w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3-300x224.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3-600x449.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Mpho3-768x574.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 824px) 100vw, 824px" /><figcaption> Mpho ‘Popps’ Modikoane in an interview in Ghana. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure></div>



Modikoane juxtaposes his experiences in Ghana and South
Africa, making various comparisons in the ways people conduct their lives.
“When you go outside of South Africa, you see the Africanness of our continent.
We South Africans have the modern, western element and live with white people
in our communities and our country is not fully ours, but there, it’s theirs.
Their heritage is rich, their culture is rich.”



And the most important part about visiting the rest of
Africa for Modikoane? 



“They make you feel like a celebrity,” he chuckles again.&nbsp; 



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Mpho

Executive Travel: Mpho Popps’ Ghana

Ghana has been&nbsp;chosen&nbsp;by the African Union (AU) to host the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. It beat other competing countries including Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Senegal to win the bid.



As a free trade area, member countries have come together and agreed not to impose tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers on goods and services. The agreement is expected to enlarge markets and diversify exports, particularly manufactured goods. 



According to US-based think tank the Brookings Institute, intra-African trade stands at about 14%, while the share of manufactured goods to the rest of the world stands at 18%. Trade among Asian countries is much higher – at 59% – and even higher among European countries at 69%. The hope is that the African free trade area will boost trade across the continent by 52% by 2022 .



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The core mandate of the secretariat will be to implement the free trade agreement, which has been&nbsp;ratified&nbsp;by 25 out of 54 countries. Once all have ratified the deal, it will create the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.



Africa’s free trade area will cover a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of&nbsp;US$2.5 trillion.



The secretariat’s job will be to recruit personnel, train them, and develop organisational capability. The secretariat will also have to implement policies handed down by the governing body, keep the media informed, organise conferences and identify potential funding sources. It will also monitor and evaluate the progress of policies and programmes.



This is a first for Ghana which has not hosted a continental secretariat. The hope is that it can emulate the success of other African capitals that have befitted from hosting the AU and the United Nations. 



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">Addis Ababa is home to the AU headquarters while Nairobi hosts two of the UN’s biggest bodies. For its part, South Africa hosts the Pan-African Parliament.</blockquote>



The presence of the AU in Addis Ababa has been&nbsp;credited&nbsp;with an increase in property valuations as well as job creation.



In making its bid, Ghana took advantage of its strategic geographical location in West Africa. It has put a great deal of effort into making the country a gateway and a trade hub in West Africa.



Hosting the free trade area secretariat will come with costs and benefits &#8211; direct and indirect.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why Ghana</h3>



In establishing its credentials to host the secretariat, the Ghanaian government would have set out the country’s most notable achievements.



These would have included the fact that it’s been an exemplary member of the AU. For example, in 2007 it was among the first countries to be reviewed by the&nbsp;African Peer Review Mechanism&nbsp;– the self-assessment mechanism used to measure&nbsp;good governance.



The fact that it put its hand up sent a signal to other countries that the peer review process was credible.



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Other factors that would have played in Ghana’s favour are that the country’s economy has been showing strong growth.



It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an&nbsp;averageGDP growth of about 6%. In addition, it comes second to Cape Verde in West Africa in terms of the United Nations Human Development&nbsp;index.



In one of the most unstable sub regions in the world, Ghana also has a tradition of relative peace and security, a key parameter for hosting a secretariat.



In addition, Ghana has had the advantage of learning about trade collaboration through its membership of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Costs and benefits</h3>



Ghana has been part of the&nbsp;15-member&nbsp;Ecowas since its formation in 1990. The regional body introduced a common external tariff in&nbsp;2015&nbsp;.



While Ghana has enjoyed&nbsp;benefits&nbsp;from the arrangement, like many other West African States, it has not been able to harness its full potential. For example, border controls remain cumbersome, delaying transits due to the numerous check points, huge unofficial payments at the&nbsp;borders.



The most direct cost to the country will be the $10 million pledged by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to support setting up the secretariat. The AU is also expected to contribute funds and appeals have been made to international funding agencies.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote">Ghana’s hope is that hosting the secretariat will boost the hospitality sector – and more broadly the services sector – and generate increased international exposure.</blockquote>



There should also be a boost for job creation as the secretariat hires staff; ranging from economists to translators, administrators and technicians.



There is no clear deadline on when the secretariat is expected to be up and running. The AU itself still has to clear a number of&nbsp;hurdles, including adopting a structure, staff rules and regulations, and the secretariat’s budget.

gettyimages-1133592971-594×594

Ghana Hopes To Benefit From Hosting Africa’s Free Trade Area Secretariat

Move over Lagos. Accra is campaigning hard to bring
international tourism and business to its verdant shores.



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Outside Accra’s shiny new Kotoka International Airport is a
fleet of 30 black Land Cruisers waiting for a motley group of 60
African-Americans gripped by wanderlust. 



The airport, birthed from the partnership between Ghana
Airports Company Limited (GACL) and Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), now
processes around 1,250 passengers per hour with a goal of welcoming some six
million passengers each year to the leafy West African country, according to
Joshua Otchere of Ghana Immigration Service. 



This is Ghana’s attempt to become the hub of sub-regional
travel by distinguishing itself from the likes of Lagos. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="920" height="612" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39165" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1.png 920w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1-300x200.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1-600x399.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana1-768x511.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px" /><figcaption>Women sell fish at a thriving market in Accra. Picture: Getty</figcaption></figure>



“We are now offering better services, faster turnaround
times from airlines and a world-class experience when traveling, which we
believe will compete with the rest of the world along with great retail
spaces,” says Otchere.



It is a fitting welcome to the star-studded group of
visitors including international supermodel Naomi Campbell and actors Idris
Elba, Anthony Anderson and Rosario Dawson among many others. Ghana, once a
major hub for the transatlantic slave trade from the 16th to the 19th
centuries, has several historical ties with the USA. 



Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo declared and formerly
launched ‘Year of Return Ghana 2019’ for Africans in the diaspora in Washington
D.C., in September last year with the aim of uniting Africans on the continent
with their brothers and sisters abroad. Tasked with playing her role to make
that vision a reality is fellow Ghanaian and Chief Marketing Officer of William
Morris Endeavor, Bozoma Saint John. 



“I had an audience with the president after meeting him at
an event by the Africa-America Institute in New York where we were both
presented with awards. During my acceptance speech, I spoke about Ghana and
when I came back to Ghana, he asked me what I was going to do to represent
Ghana in the diaspora,” says John. 



“He said he was proud of my achievements but what am I going
to do specifically to help promote Ghana. I took it to heart and I thought
about all the friends that I have invited to Ghana throughout the years and all
of those who have changed their opinions about what Ghana is and sometimes it
was only after a week. So I knew how powerful that process was,” she says.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="407" height="558" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39166" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2.png 407w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2-300x411.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ghana2-219x300.png 219w" sizes="(max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px" /><figcaption>Traditional dancers in Ghana. Picture: Getty</figcaption></figure></div>



The former Chief Brand Officer of Uber immediately reached
out to Hollywood star Boris Kodjoe to brainstorm on how they could get more
people to join them to discover Ghana and the Full Circle Festival was born.



“Boris and I thought about who we could invite. It wasn’t
about just getting the biggest names, it was about inviting our friends who
have influence both in Hollywood and in the business circles who can come to
Ghana and really enjoy the experience,” says John.



The country came fourth out of 19 countries in CNN’s list of
top places to visit in 2019. In addition, there have been massive
infrastructure projects, digital skills training for millions as well as
substantial investments into the startup ecosystem. 



“Google is setting up its Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
in Accra and that shows just how far we have come as an economy and country,”
says Franklin Cudjoe, President of Imani Centre for Policy and Education, a
leading Ghanaian think-tank.



This year, Ghana is attempting to ramp up its tourism
status. The initiative is set to attract some half a million tourists, with
about 350,000 coming in from North America, while the rest will come from the
Carribean, South America and Europe, according to Ghana Tourism Authority
(GTA).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="917" height="605" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39167" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4.png 917w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4-300x198.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4-600x396.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana4-768x507.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 917px) 100vw, 917px" /><figcaption> In the middle, Chief Marketing Officer of William Morris Endeavor, Bozoma Saint John. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure>



“We expect a lot of networking and business opportunities to
come out of this unique initiative especially between Ghana and the USA that
will generate revenues for local industries in Ghana,” says Akwasi Agyeman,
Chief Executive Officer of GTA.



For the attendees of the recent Full Circle Festival,
however, the experience is somewhat more about a deeper spiritual connection.
Activities included a visit to the historic Cape Coast castle as well as
tourist hotspots like the Royal Senchi resort and a trip to Lake Volta,
Africa’s largest artificial reservoir.



“It is hard to explain what it feels like when you spend time in a place where double-consciousness doesn’t exist, the freedom to just be, the peace of mind and to be closer to your ancestors’ spirit than you have ever been. 



 “To feel the dreadful weight inside the slave dungeons and then the surge of empowerment when you step back into your life with a newfound purpose and 400 years of collective survival energy behind you. To connect with your royal heritage and to see the beauty in your culture that can never be denied. To eat the food and dance all night and connect with people who carry such effortless joy and pride, I simply love Ghana,” says actor Kodjoe.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="461" height="566" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3.png" alt="" class="wp-image-39168" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3.png 461w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3-300x368.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Ghana3-244x300.png 244w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" /><figcaption>The Full Circle Festival at the Labadi Beach Ghana. Picture:Getty</figcaption></figure></div>



It has been 400 years since the first enslaved Africans
arrived in North America. For many, the impact of the slave trade cannot be
overlooked. 



For John, this is the beginning of a journey of
enlightenment for her friends in Hollywood. It is time to play her part for
Ghana by bringing awareness to the destination as a tourist hotspot for the US.




As CMO of one of the biggest talent agencies in the US, her
opinion certainly holds weight. And there is no shortage of passion when it
comes to the country that seems to have now captured the attention of corporate
America.

accra

IN PICTURES | Ghana Earning Its Stars And Stripes Through Tourism

Makafui Awuku has slept on a bench, hunted in the bush, worked at a church and sifted through mountains of plastic waste. He is the man turning trash into cash in Ghana.

Thirtyfive-year-old Makafui Awuku has been through enough pain and penury in life to see beauty in the little things. He is the man who can turn plastic scrap to nifty objects of desire.
His is a life filled with odd, interesting assignments.
It is easy to see why Awuku is not particularly fond of his early years. The social entrepreneur and founder of Mckingtorch Creatives did not have a privileged life.
Born in Keta, Sogakope, in the Volta Region of Ghana, his father, who was a driver, passed away when he was aged 12 leaving Awuku, his sister and mother to fend for themselves. Surviving on his mother’s income as a nurse was not enough for Makafui to achieve his dream of becoming a doctor. Instead, he had to depend on his wits for survival.
He would hunt with a catapult in the bush and even started his own poultry farm to generate extra income. Then in 2005, life became grimmer.
His mother passed away from a stroke and Awuku found himself stranded with no help.
Armed with just $1,000 from his mother’s pension contribution, he moved to Ghana’s capital city, Accra, in search of greener pastures.

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<blockquote>&#8220;There was a lot of waste generated during board meetings,&#8221;</blockquote>
That same year, he got admission to study marketing at the Institute of Professional Services but the money he made was not enough to pay tuition fees.
“I have struggled most of my way through life. I have slept on a bench in Accra and I have also slept at a 24-hour internet café. I didn’t have anywhere to sleep, so I decided to just spend the night behind the computer there. While in school, I had to find part-time work to pay my fees and pay my medical bills as I had asthma,” says Awuku.
He would do assignments for his colleagues and charge them for it, and also pick up odd jobs such as being a part-time soccer teacher for an international school in Accra. But he eventually had to drop out of school because he couldn’t afford it.
“I eventually met one of my mentors and supporters, Reverend Richard C. Whitcomb, a senior overseer of the Agape House New Testament Church in East Legon. He gave me a job at the church, then he helped pay my rent and then when I had to go back after I deferred my final year, he helped pay my tuition fees too.”
Awuku published his first book in 2015, The Tertiary Years, to address inefficiencies in the education system in Ghana and help young students build leadership skills.
That was followed by his social project called Student Initiative Ghana, a platform for the personal development and training of young people.
“I have visited over 15 schools and trained over 80,000 people over the last 15 years in the areas of brain-training and memory enhancement and helped young people with learning difficulties.”
He subsequently gained admission to the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) program created by former American President Barack Obama in his early years at the White House to develop the leadership of young people in Africa creating value in their communities.
“I spent five weeks in Nigeria at the Administrative Staff College in Badagry. I returned to Ghana to do an internship program. I worked with the One Ghana Movement and one of the programs they were doing was on sanitation. The team was going to be buying 1,000 bins and installing it in various places in Accra in partnership with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly,” says Awuku.
This is when he found his Eureka moment.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2018/04/18/roll-used-tyres/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: On A Roll With Used Tyres</a>
“While I was doing the internship, I realized there was a lot of waste generated during board meetings. I decided I wanted to do something about this. I looked through the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and I looked at the plastic waste problem. I said to myself, ‘I took a course on waste management at university and I am a fan of clean environment, so let me do something with sustainable communities and cities which the plastic waste falls under’,” avers Awuku.
A 2002 report by the African Development Bank said that Ghana generated about 3.6 million tonnes of solid waste per year made up predominantly of food, plastic and wood. Awuku decided to join the fight to clean up Accra’s streets. He started Mckingtorch Creatives in January 2018 to turn plastic waste into art.
“So I started collecting bottles from the office and decided to try designing a Christmas tree from plastic waste. I got a welder to install a frame for me that looked like a frame for a tree and I decided to buy ropes. I would drill holes under the bottles and on top of the bottles and pass the ropes through them and install them on the tree. A day before Christmas, I had finished the tree. I bought lights and put them up and there were actually 396 plastic bottles on that tree,” says Awuku.
He installed his new creation in a major street in Madina, a suburb in Accra.
“I realized that it was changing people’s attitudes, they were shocked that plastic waste and bottles could be used in this manner. So I decided that I could take things a lot further and look at modeling some solutions I could develop using plastic waste,” says Awuku.
Some of his creations include flower pots, bins, wall-hangings and even sandals.
He also teamed up with one of the biggest manufacturers of bottled water in Ghana to create a fence with over 10,000 bottles for World Environment Day.
Awuku is determined to tell the youth that there can be workable solutions for waste and that they can be a pertinent part of building a planet free of plastic.

IMG_3564

Ghana’s Wastepreneur

Ghana is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year, according to the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the IMF. Its projected growth in 2018 is between 8.3-8.9%.
The Ghanaian workforce is young, with 57% of the population under the age of 25. This means millions of new graduates enter the workforce each year. One woman who understands the struggle that awaits this unsuspecting group in corporate Ghana is Human Resources (HR) entrepreneur, Rita Kusi.
Kusi is the founder and CEO of Keeping “U” Simply Intact (KUSI) Consulting, a marketing, training and recruiting company based in the United States (US) and in Ghana. She is also the Managing Director of threesixtyGh, a social enterprise company with an online presence showcasing innovative ventures in Ghana and the people behind them.
Born in Bolga, Northern Ghana, Kusi’s family gained access to the US through the US Visa Lottery in the early 80s. The family relocated to the US in 1991 where Kusi remained until 2013. And that is also where she amassed a wealth of experience working in several sectors.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/entreprenuers/2018/04/24/cracking-the-code-and-bridging-the-gender-gap/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Cracking the Code and Bridging The Gender Gap</a>
After college, Kusi worked a number of temporary jobs, from telemarketing in Atlanta to door-to-door sales in Maryland. She even tried her hands at customer services and working in cafes.
“I think for me having held all these jobs opened my eyes and I realized especially what I wanted to do in corporate America,” says Kusi.
All these experiences came together when she applied for a new role as HR assistant. When she did not hear back from the company regarding her application, Kusi took the initiative and called the hiring manager.
“So my dad told me to call and get feedback and as I called my CV happened to be in front of the hiring manager and he invited me in for the interview. I knew nothing about HR but I was just really looking for a job and I ended up getting that job and it was the longest I ever stayed at any job so that was a sign,” says Kusi.
She had finally found her calling in HR but it was not until a nostalgic visit back home that she would merge all her US experience together, ushering in a new life as an entrepreneur.
There were no real training programs at the time focused on improving the quality of customer service in Ghana. Kusi seized the opportunity to provide quality HR training programs, which she hoped organizations would pay for. And they did. This was the birth of Kusi Consulting.
From training services, the company has morphed its offerings into recruitment services and Kusi is now diversifying into skills-training as well as business process outsourcing, where the company handles the pay roll function for other corporate clients. Her timing couldn’t be more perfect. Hiring the right people is critical for companies to reduce employee attrition and enhance returns from HR. Companies face challenges in accurately perceiving and assessing an employee’s quality attributes prior to hiring that employee. This problem is more pronounced in African economies, which involves novices who do not have prior work records attesting to their raw skills, learning abilities and motivation. And this is where Kusi comes in.
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She believes a specialist HR function is imperative in every organization to ensure maximum output by each employee. However, she has had some difficulty convincing corporate Ghana.
“It has been challenging operating here especially being a female because it is literally a man’s world and in this country, it’s all about who you know… There is that challenge of how do I make myself look older and more respected?” she says.
But ever resilient, Kusi refuses to back down. She hopes to create her own temp agency where she has skilled staff inhouse which she can outsource on demand to other companies. Her newly-formed team is just as passionate about the business and with that focus, she is rebranding her company to be a leader in HR not only in Ghana but across Africa.

Rita-1

The Ghanaian Who Brought HR Corporate America To Ghana

Move over, Lagos and Johannesburg, Accra too has a burgeoning media and entertainment sector. A 2016 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) predicts the sector in Ghana could be worth more than $1 billion in 2019.
Proving this are events such as the Exclusive Men of The Year (EMY) Africa Awards, which last year brought together 1,000 people including some of Ghana’s top CEOs, founders and achievers. Held on Father’s Day the last two years, it spotlights businessmen who are also role models at home, a campaign Daniel Kojo Soboh, Executive Director of EMY Africa, is hoping will transform the role of men in societies across Africa.
“We did a lot of research and realized there were homes that had no positive male role models young children could look up to. We know that the father’s role is very key, so it’s very important we project some of these men who are doing so great with their family, their work and their business,” says Soboh.
The event is dedicated to celebrating men in Ghana and Soboh is looking to expand his footprint in other African countries as well.
Those awarded include previous FORBES AFRICA covers, Papa Kwesi Nduom and Joseph Siaw Agyepong, for their impact as leading business magnates and inspirational role models.
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“We select people from across various industries, people whose work is impacting society positively. We wanted to present them to young people who learn about them and who can read their stories and be inspired…,” says Soboh.
His own experiences growing up in a mining area in the Western Region of Ghana with a father he looked up to helped shape his outlook.
“My father encouraged us to be anything we wanted to be so long as it was 100% legal,” he reminisces as we sit down in his office in downtown Dzorwulu, Accra.
Soboh’s dream was to become a pilot. He opted for computer science at university instead until he stumbled into the entertainment sector.
“Two years into my course, I wanted to quit because I realized it was not something I wanted to pursue. I fell in love with entertainment… I organized a lot of events so everything pointed to the fact that I was an entertainment person. I loved putting stuff together and putting smiles on people’s faces and I also loved organizing and giving people a good time.”
Soboh joined Imajin Advertising, an events company in Ghana, where he was part of organizing some of Ghana’s most successful events such as the Legends and Legacy Ball, The Stand Up GH concert, and The Ghana Stands In Worship concert. The time was right.
According to the PWC report, Ghana’s entertainment and media sector generated revenues of $685 million in 2016, representing a year-on-year- growth above 25% from its $214 million mark in 2012.
Soboh decided he wanted a chunk of this lucrative market.
<div id="attachment_35818" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-35818" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-medium wp-image-35818" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_9360-1-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_9360-1-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_9360-1-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_9360-1-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_9360-1-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_9360-1-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_9360-1.jpg 1365w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />Daniel Kojo Soboh. Photo supplied.</div>
“I started my own agency called Carbon AD to partake in opportunities in this growing sector. I partnered with Exclusive Men’s Magazine as a managing partner and together we created the EMY Africa Awards… The event has grown very quickly and become a household name&#8230;”
Ghana’s entertainment industry has seen significant changes over the past decade, and it has become imperative for companies like Soboh’s to continue to innovate. This relies on sponsorships, and that has not been an easy task for Soboh.
“We strive to raise the bar in terms of events in Ghana&#8230; I mean other people are doing it in Nigeria and Kenya, where they are producing state-of-the-art events and these things come at a cost,” says the man promoting exclusive men in Africa. Are they listening?

kojo

From Accra To Africa

<blockquote>“If we focus on humanity, accountability and the citizenship of the people over the next 60 years, Ghana should become a truly shining example, not only on the continent of Africa but globally.” &#8211; Former Ghanaian President John Kufuor</blockquote>
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-34036" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Penresa-Logo-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Penresa-Logo-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Penresa-Logo-100x100.jpg 100w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Penresa-Logo-600x600.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Penresa-Logo-150x150.jpg 150w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Penresa-Logo-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Penresa-Logo.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
In 2017, 60 years after Ghana claimed independence, President Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP political party came into power amidst much rejoicing, optimism and hope around the country. The administration immediately displayed its intention to build a budding economy replete with developed infrastructure and programs to fortify the agricultural, financial and energy sector, focusing all the while upon its large population of youth. “The hope for the youth is very significant” Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia states “which is why we’ve initiated a policy of free secondary school education to prioritize our most important resources, the children.”
<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Penresa-Shining-Bright-Ghana-Full-Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">READ THE FULL REPORT</a>
The industrial policy ‘1-District-1-Factory’ is President Akufo-Addo’s flagship and representative of the administration’s vision and ambition for Ghana. It was launched as a project aimed at creating jobs for the youth and eventually reducing the developmental gaps and rural-urban migration. The idea is to build a factory in each of Ghana’s districts establishing as President Akufo-Addo claims “at least one major industrial project, based on the natural endowment of economic potential of each district.” In this way value will be added to Ghana’s very rich and vast raw materials by processing them on the very land where they grow. This will reduce importation and increase food availability as well as allowing the participation of the private sector.
To promote the growth and development of entrepreneurship and to accelerate youth job creation, President Akufo-Addo has also introduced the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NIEP). The government’s approach to stimulate enterprise activities and provide integrated national support for start-ups and small businesses. “There are a lot of unemployed youth who could be employed” states Dr. Aaron Issa Anafure, CEO of SIC Life “not directly by government but with their help, they can fund them to set up their own businesses.”
Ghana’s mission to be a leading entrepreneurial country is dependent on Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta’s major tax reforms. These focus mainly on the abrogation and reduction of the taxes that have been holding back the growth of the private sector. “Ghana represents a pillar of stability in the region and it is our job to let the black star shine again and attract the needed investment to create a region that is both productive and profitable.” Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta states, “We have started the reforms to get the private sector to work again. We aim to provide stable exchange rates, lower interest rates, stable energy supply, a shift in taxation to support growth, while spending in critical areas of the economy.”
Ghana’s efforts to focus on the private sector to boost the economy and financial sector has brought about transparency and accountability. Clearance of goods from Ghana’s ports will be 100% paperless while all internal customs barriers in the country will also be removed to facilitate the movement of goods. Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the bank of Ghana confirms the positive and swift change taking place, “Ghana is making progress on all fronts, that is politically, socially and economically. One of the few democratically stable African countries&#8230; Ghana has vast potentials of natural resources and investment opportunities, with friendly people and a favourable business climate.”

FOCUS ON GHANA: Welcome to Africa’s Rising Black Star

The first time I visited Ghana’s capital, Accra, was in 2014 and it was an impressive experience. From the airport to the hotel, I met people who treated their country’s guests with dignity.
When it was time to hit the street market of Accra, I exercised caution because I was about to experience the discomfort that accompanies shopping in a typical African market where you must sweat it out under the sun, guard your wallet, and watch out for other types of social menace. My brain was very alert throughout my visit at the famous Makola Market. Within minutes, this unpleasant experience was replaced with one of pleasure as I entered the modern Accra Mall. The ambiance was relaxing and consumers were treated with respect.
The success of entrepreneurs in this economic system will be determined by how good they are at selling what consumers want, which includes respecting the dignity of people.
Customers crave a welcoming smile, honesty, respect, convenience and high-quality. Offering what matters to customers, but which is not always easy to find, will be where African entrepreneurs find success.
In Africa, there is a scarcity of love being expressed towards citizens. This is evident in the continent’s poor infrastructure, hunger, poor healthcare facilities, and lack of empathy from politicians. This is why Africans are longing for anything that represents dignity.
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This is one opportunity that entrepreneurs cannot ignore. Despite challenges, the retail business is growing in Africa. Malls are always busy, not necessarily because the products are cheaper, but because many Africans, for the first time, are shopping in a dignified atmosphere. The demand for foreign goods is simply a result of customers craving self-esteem.
In Nigeria alone, the growth of modern shopping malls is fast and expected to double with new malls springing up every month across the country. The same is said of Nairobi that has the largest square meter shopping malls in sub-Saharan Africa. What is driving this investment? One reason could be the replacement of the humiliating market experience with malls that are clean and comfortable. The foundation of this business model is love for customers, driven by the need to restore dignity to the day-to-day shopping experience.
If you visit Lagos, Nigeria, at the moment, one of the things you will notice is the massive investment in infrastructure. This will enhance human dignity and promote business. A typical example is the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme in Lagos that is threatening the age-old yellow buses, popularly referred to as Danfo. In the BRT buses, customers are treated to air conditioning and comfortable seats. In a Danfo bus, you have to endure stifling heat and stinging insults from bus conductors.
Lagos public bus users will naturally flow to where the dignity of the consumer is respected at a competitive price. Similarly, an entrepreneur can either attract or repel people to their business. When you care about your customer, you will see increased patronage and profits grow.
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In my years of reading and relating with other entrepreneurs, I have found that most strategies and models are vulnerable to disruption and prone to failure; but the love strategy never fails. Business disruptors are usually entrepreneurs who try to improve current systems. Since the law of service says that your reward in life is directly proportional to the value that you give to others, these people are able to attract commensurate value which sets them apart.
The reality is that a business that attracts consumers and investors alike is one that focuses on meeting the needs of people on a consistent basis. These needs go beyond the obvious to include comfort, dignity, respect, care and, ultimately, love. &#8211; Written by Victor Mamora

Love Comes Before Money

How is it that West Africa only accounts for 5% of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the African continent? The World Bank wondered this in July this year.
This is a region that includes the continent’s largest economy, Nigeria, with gross domestic product (GDP) of $406 billion in 2016, about 29% of sub-Saharan African output of $1.4 trillion. By comparison, South Africa, the continent’s most advanced economy has a size of $294 billion. Furthermore, the largest and most dynamic francophone African country, Ivory Coast, with a $36 billion economy, is also West African. So why the scant foreign investor interest?
Jack Ma, one of Asia’s richest men, led a group of people with similarly deep pockets to East Africa in July. His first stop was Kenya, an economy barely one-fifth of Nigeria’s size. Ma also visited Rwanda, a tiny landlocked neighbor to Kenya.
If corruption, terrorism and the occasional rebellion in Nigeria and Ivory Coast is disturbing, why is Ghana overlooked? With an economy almost as large as Kenya, Ghana has a better democratic record and has proved to be one of the most stable African countries. And just as Nigeria struggles to deal with the Boko Haram terrorist group in its northeast, so does Kenya with Al-Shabaab. Additionally, political violence is more of a problem in Kenya than it is in Nigeria.
So why did Ma and his 38 billionaire friends find relatively smaller African countries more attractive to the larger coastal countries in the West with such cosmopolitan cities like Lagos and Abidjan? The reasons are not farfetched.
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The World Bank asserts cumbersome administrative procedures and corruption at the ports hinder the speedy clearance of goods, for example. These apply to most African countries, though. It attributes access to finance as well. This is not significant though, as foreign investors bring their own capital. But if a country’s exchange rate policy is controlled and not transparent, this can be stymied.
East African countries have been more reliable in this regard, allowing their currencies to trade without much interference and not hindering the free flow of capital in and out of their jurisdictions, even during periods of crisis. Historically, this has not been the case in West Africa, especially Nigeria, which until recently not only rationed hard currency but blocked the repatriation of capital, causing great losses to foreign investors. Also, myriad bottlenecks around doing business in most West African countries are worse than they are in East Africa. Little wonder the World Bank ranks Rwanda and Kenya 56th and 92nd out of 190 countries respectively in its latest ease of doing business index. Ghana and Nigeria are ranked 108th and 169th respectively.
Even though corruption underpins the relatively more difficult business conditions in West African countries, it is not likely the reason they are less attractive investment destinations. Kenya is perceived by some to be more corrupt than Nigeria, for instance. In fact, Transparency International ranks Kenya as more corrupt than Nigeria in its corruption perception index.
The reason could be that East African countries are more economically integrated. In contrast, West African countries, under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have been more successful at political integration than economic cohesion.
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A more innovative streak is also a factor, especially with information technology; albeit West African countries, like Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria, are increasingly demonstrating technological progress as well. Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, visited Nigeria in August 2016, for instance.
So what can West African governments do to attract more FDI? They must make doing business easier. The World Bank is helping via a European Union funded four-year ‘Improved Business and Investment Climate in West Africa Project’. It is hoped the ECOWAS Investment Climate Scorecard will bring quicker progress with integration.
With patronage-based politics continuing to be crucial to the stability of most West African countries, however, there is not much political will towards economic integration. Move too quickly and they might have bigger problems than just being difficult to do business in. &#8211; Written by Rafiq Raji

Tag: Ghana

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