Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang&#8217;s emergence as Ghana&#8217;s first female vice president brings the West African nation, home to 34 million people and renowned for its democratic institutions, closer to the possibility of electing its first female president — a milestone recently achieved by Namibia with the election of its incumbent vice president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.



The emergence of 73-year-old Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang as Ghana’s first female vice president, places the country among a growing number of African nations advancing gender equality in leadership.



The professor of literature assumed this role after the reelection of former President John Dramani Mahama under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the December 7, 2024, elections.



&#8220;My nomination has many, many implications&#8230; It means all of us are on board. The victory is for all of us, but especially for our daughters, for our youth, for our women&#8230; I know this is a big responsibility&#8230; My job was to open the door, and it doesn&#8217;t end there. Actually, that is where the work begins. I will hold the door open. The method of holding the door open so others wish to travel that door is what I&#8217;m implying,&#8221; Opoku-Agyemang said during her speech on Monday at Mahama’s campaign office in Cantonments of the capital Accra.



Her emphasis on empowerment and inclusion aligns with findings from Women Political Leaders and the Oliver Wyman Forum, which suggest that greater female representation at the highest levels of government helps dismantle legal inequality between men and women.



This development represents a significant step forward for Ghana, where women constitute 51% of the population but hold only 14.5% of parliamentary seats, according to the World Bank. This figure falls well below the global average of 26.9%.



“It reflects the growing recognition of women’s capabilities and contributions to governance, inspiring hope that Ghana is indeed moving closer to producing its first female president. I believe this development will encourage more women to participate in politics and strive for the highest levels of leadership, ultimately enriching our democracy and driving national progress,” Ghanaian singer Jane Awindor, known as Efya, says to FORBES AFRICA.



Opoku-Agyemang’s achievement builds on her career. In 2008, she became the first female Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, and she served as Ghana’s Minister of Education from 2013 to 2017 under Mahama’s administration. She was also the first woman to be nominated as a vice-presidential candidate for a major Ghanaian political party in 2020, although that election bid was unsuccessful.



“Having the first female vice president in a gender-conservative country like Ghana is a huge win for gender inclusiveness. The ultimate goal of a woman commander-in-chief following this historic elevation is in plain sight. The character, composure, integrity, and highest personal achievement of Vice President-elect, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, powerfully challenges the cultural and social status quo that questions the capabilities of a female president. Today, the question should no longer be, ‘Are Ghanaians ready for a female president?’ It is now a case of Ghanaians in anticipation of the next president who will serve in humility and with integrity without gender consideration,” says Ghanaian entrepreneur Bernard Agbonoshie.



These advancements reflect a broader evolution in Ghana’s gender dynamics. The country moved up 12 places in the 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, ranking 88th out of 146 nations. This progress is supported by shifting societal attitudes; a 2022 Afrobarometer survey revealed that 67% of Ghanaians support women’s equal participation in politics.



Ghana is not alone in embracing women’s leadership. Rwanda, for example, leads the world with 61.3% female representation in parliament. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Namibia’s Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, recently elected as the country’s first female president, further demonstrate the transformative impact of women in leadership across Africa.



“Despite the progress, I cannot say if we are close or not to having a female president. The appointment of a woman as vice president is a major step, but it remains difficult for many people to fully grasp. Some voters even chose not to support John Mahama because of his preference for Prof Jane Opoku-Agyemang as his running mate. This reflects a section of Ghanaian society that is hesitant to empower women in high political offices. My hope is that this new chapter for Prof Jane Opoku-Agyemang will strengthen the push for more women to be given high political office. The public’s response to this development will give us a clearer answer to whether we are ready for a female president,” shares Ghanaian researcher Nathan Quao.



As of early 2024, women held only 27.3% of parliamentary seats across sub-Saharan Africa. Many nations continue to face institutional and cultural barriers that limit women’s political participation. “This progress will not end here, as we are likely to see more women stepping forward in the near future. It is truly inspiring to see a woman occupy such a high position in the land. Her acceptance speech on opening the door is a powerful statement highlighting her dedication and underscores Ghana’s progress towards gender equality in politics!” says Ghanaian interior designer Belle Yemofio to FORBES AFRICA.

Presentation Of Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, John Mahama’s Running Mate

‘Huge Win For Gender Inclusiveness’: Ghana’s First Female Vice President A Step Forward For African Politics

The highway will connect Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, regions that account for 75% of West Africa&#8217;s commercial activity.



A 1,028-kilometer project dubbed Abidjan-Lagos Highway Corridor, is slated to begin in 2026 and conclude by 2030, fueled by $15.6 billion in investment interest secured at an older edition of the Africa Investment Forum, an initiative led by the African Development Bank (AfDB), and eight founding partners. The transport sector in this corridor contributes between 5% and 8% to the region’s gross domestic product (GDP).


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="421" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Image-courtesy-of-AfDB-1024x421.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63900" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Image-courtesy-of-AfDB-1024x421.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Image-courtesy-of-AfDB-300x123.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Image-courtesy-of-AfDB-768x316.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Image-courtesy-of-AfDB.jpg 1300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image courtesy of AfDB</figcaption></figure></div>


By 2050, the project is expected to serve 173 million urban residents, enhancing connectivity and economic integration across the subregion.



The highway will feature four to six lanes, expanding to eight in Lagos, Nigeria&#8217;s commercial capital. Beyond its benefits, the project is a cornerstone of AfDB&#8217;s Spatial Development Initiative which has outlined investments of $6.8 billion in sectors such as renewable energy, manufacturing, and agriculture. These interventions are projected to generate $16 billion in economic impacts and create over 230,000 direct and indirect jobs.



“The Abidjan-Lagos Highway is more than a road; it’s a lifeline for regional trade and integration,” says Nigerian exporter Oluwaseun Obilana to FORBES AFRICA. “For exporters like me, it means reduced transit times, fewer bottlenecks, and better access to regional markets, particularly in Côte d&#8217;Ivoire and Ghana.”



Despite its potential and the AfDB&#8217;s investment of $25 million in the preparatory phase, Nigerian analyst Moses Adeolubodun calls for sustainable planning. “While this project promises economic transformation, it must be accompanied by investments in governance and maintenance structures,” Adeolubodun says to FORBES AFRICA. “Ensuring the highway’s longevity will depend on effective management and the alignment of national priorities.”

Motorway in Nigeria

Lifeline For Regional Trade? Highway Linking Five West African Cities By 2030

Results trickling in from Ghana’s 2024 presidential elections place former President John Dramani Mahama – who lost his re-election bid to the incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2016 – on track to reclaim the presidency.



Ghana&#8217;s Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has conceded defeat to former President John Dramani Mahama from the National Democratic Congress (NDC), even before the Electoral Commission has officially announced the results of the tightly-contested 2024 presidential elections held on Saturday.



With 976,644 votes, representing 56.39%, Mahama is leading against Bawumia, who secured 738,493 votes, or 42.64%. Mahama is widely expected to be declared president, to be sworn in, in January 2025.



Bawumia addressed the nation from his residence on Sunday, stating that his decision to concede was driven by the need to preserve national harmony amid growing political tensions.



&#8220;Let me say that the data from our own internal collation of the election results indicate that former President John Dramani Mahama has won the presidential election decisively. The NDC has also won the parliamentary election. Even though we await the final collation of a number of seats, I believe ultimately these will not change the outcome,&#8221; Bawumia said.



Mahama confirmed the concession via a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing: &#8220;I have, this morning, received a congratulatory call from my brother Dr @MBawumia, following my emphatic victory in Saturday’s election.



&#8220;Thank you, Ghana.&#8221;



The statement was met with widespread reactions, as Ghanaians expressed both surprise and reflection on the state of the nation.



&#8220;If you scan through the social media, traditional media, many youth are saying this is a gentleman’s behavior and are commending the Vice President for taking such an initiative,&#8221; Ghanaian entertainment pundit Edem Mensah Tsortorme shares with FORBES AFRICA. &#8220;The country was in a pensive mood, and to publicly concede when the electoral commission has not received any results at their national collation center, even though some of the collations have taken place in some areas, was a huge statement for the country and this would go a long way to further earn him a lot of respect… The VP&#8217;s statement is unifying the nation at this point and is beautiful for our growing democracy, which would further help him in the future.&#8221;



Ghanaian Business Development Consultant Frank Say-on says to FORBES AFRICA: &#8220;This came as a surprise to most Ghanaians, looking at the fact that some results were still being contended by both the NDC and NPP… No one expected this from the VP and in doing so, he has earned the respect of many Ghanaians as a true statesman.”



Ghanaian student Dorcas Gyamfi too considers this &#8220;a bold step, unusual of leaders&#8221;.



&#8220;This makes him an exceptional leader, a gentleman and great man. Another candidate would have opted to contest the results. He&#8217;s a peaceful man, and kudos to him. This has heightened my respect for him,&#8221; says Gyamfi to FORBES AFRICA.



Previously, Mahama was the President of Ghana from 2012 to 2107.

Ghana Reacts To Presidential Election Results

‘A Gentleman’s Behavior’: Ghanaians On Vice President Conceding Defeat To Ex-President Mahama Before Official Results Of Presidential Elections

As Ghana’s home market picks up, so is the demand from consumers for opulent interiors, but there are challenges.



The interior design market size was valued at $130.5 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to $211.29 billion by 2032, according to global market research company, Market Research Future. In Ghana, in particular, Statista reports that revenue in the furniture market is estimated to be $431.30 million in 2024, and projected to experience an annual growth rate of 2.04% (CAGR 2024-2029).


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="821" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Yaw-Appiah-Kubi-Image-supplied-821x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62628" style="width:475px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Yaw-Appiah-Kubi-Image-supplied-821x1024.jpg 821w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Yaw-Appiah-Kubi-Image-supplied-241x300.jpg 241w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Yaw-Appiah-Kubi-Image-supplied-768x958.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Yaw-Appiah-Kubi-Image-supplied-1232x1536.jpg 1232w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Yaw-Appiah-Kubi-Image-supplied.jpg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 821px) 100vw, 821px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Yaw Appiah Kubi (Image supplied)</figcaption></figure></div>


“Ghana is currently at an exciting juncture. We are seeing new design concepts come to the forefront. There is a growing recognition of intrinsic elements, such as superior craftsmanship and exceptional materials,” says Pamela Michelle Aboagye, founder of Ms. Atkinson Interiors.



“I feel Ghana could be the leading luxury interior landmark. We have the resources, talent and craftsmanship to exceed all other countries. We are gradually being acknowledged and appreciated for our design ability.”



Mawuli Nii Mensah, CEO of Tema-based FBM Marble &amp; Granite that provides natural stone products, further attests to this.



“Our typical clientele encompasses a diverse range of individuals who share an appreciation for the transformative power of a beautifully designed home. Contrary to the perception that interior design is just for the affluent, everyone deserves a living space that is both opulent and reflects their style,” he says.



“While my portfolio includes clients with notable budgets, which grants me the freedom to prepare designs without constraints, my core philosophy is that beautiful homes should be accessible to everyone.”



The sector can also be considered crucial because, in many cases, it helps to increase the value of real estate. This, in turn, would have a knock-on effect on sectors like the furniture market.



A 2022 report from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) states that the country’s real estate sector had become the fastest-growing sector with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% between 2016 and 2021. The development of residential spaces has been bolstered by both the government and the private sector, having increased to 5.86 million structures in 2021.



The luxury space in Ghana is also brimming with opportunities and Yaw Appiah Kubi, designer and creator of Yak Group, has taken full advantage of this.



“I have worked on several high-end projects including, Ridge Condos, Teflon Suites, Gyamfuaa Courts in the Ashanti Region, in addition to the resplendent Makers House Chapel, Embassy Gardens, Airport Hills, Lakeside Estate, Chain Homes, and many more luxurious apartments in Accra. Luxury consumers appreciate made-to-order experiences and exclusivity. Offering tailored services, limited editions, and immersive retail experiences can create a strong brand connection and customer fidelity,” he says.



Yak Decor, one of the portfolios in his group, is a luxury home interior design company in Ghana. With a 10-year journey in the dynamic world of interior design, Kubi prides himself on being a creator of bespoke furniture and a curator of luxurious interior and exterior furnishings.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Pamela-Michelle-Aboagye-Image-supplied-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62627" style="width:340px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Pamela-Michelle-Aboagye-Image-supplied-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Pamela-Michelle-Aboagye-Image-supplied-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Pamela-Michelle-Aboagye-Image-supplied-768x1151.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Pamela-Michelle-Aboagye-Image-supplied-1025x1536.jpg 1025w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Pamela-Michelle-Aboagye-Image-supplied.jpg 1366w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Pamela Michelle Aboagye (Image supplied)</figcaption></figure></div>


However, as attractive as real estate – and supporting sectors – is in Ghana, the current economic climate still presents challenges for businesses in the industry.



“The last few years’ recession has impacted every known industry and the interior design industry is without exception. Many projects have been put on hold, and the profitability and sales of many interior design businesses are going south,” says Kubi.



He has seen a decline of about 30% to 50% in revenues due to decreased consumer spending on non-essential items such as home furnishings and decor.



“I was also faced with increased competition from other similar businesses as they offered lower-priced goods and services to stay afloat in the market. This, again, has caused a dent in profit margins as I was compelled to compromise on our prices as well,” says Kubi.



Aboagye, of Ms. Atkinson Interiors, is, on the contrary, seeing a slightly different trend from Kubi.



“We have seen a 20% growth rate month-on-month in Q1, showing an understanding that, despite financial difficulties, people are choosing to invest in themselves and their homes. Some clients are conscious of their spending. I think that the goal should be to cater to everyone and educate our clients on the value of what we offer,” she says.



“With luxury interiors, the beauty lies in the durability and quality of our products. Everything is made to last, which means that while clients might feel like they are spending more, especially during an economic crisis, we are actually helping them make long-term investments in their homes.”



For Kubi, the current state of the economy as well as the increasing competition has led to a shift in strategy.



“In our recent board meeting, we concluded that we needed to find real estate investors, like developers who are planning long-term projects, because getting hired for these projects can fill in the gaps in our pipeline,” he says.



Aboagye has taken a different approach to protect her business and guarantee growth in these uncertain times.



“Businesses like mine require collaborations with other professionals, like architects and developers. Clients should allow interior designers to be involved from the early stages. Additionally, collaborating with personal shoppers and fashion stylists will help bring all design elements together. The public should also be educated on what interior designers offer,” says Aboagye.



For those looking to break into and thrive in the luxury interior design sector, she believes that ‘stickability’ is key for long-term growth.



&nbsp;“I think that we will continue to trend upward throughout 2024. Government-endorsed legislations like The Year of Return [in 2019] encouraged the diaspora community to return. We are continuing to see an upsurge in foreign investment and a demand for properties to meet a certain level of standards. There is a spotlight on Africa, and with this, I hope that we can see a boost in our economy and the opportunity for our people to spend and elevate our lifestyles,” says Aboagye.



Despite the increase in residential structures in the last decade, Ghana’s housing deficit is still around 1.8 million, according to the GIPC. The Ministry of Finance estimates that about 60% of Ghana’s urban population needs assistance in securing adequate homes.



However, this does present untapped opportunities for real estate entrepreneurs like Kofi Anku, who leads Pokuase Heights, a sustainably-built middle income housing development in Accra.



“We have over 200-unit townhouses which feature solar power, insulated walls and ceilings, biodigesters and water supply. Our two bed bungalows start from $42,000 whiles the three-bedroom shell homes go for $72,000. If you contrast this with the average home in the United States, which is $435,000 or the United Kingdom, which is $375,000, you realize just how much value you get with our homes,” says Anku.

Real estate agent showing new house to customers

Luxury Checks In: Ghana’s Real Estate Sector Sees Room For Improvement

Affinity Africa founder Tarek Mouganie is addressing the challenges of the unbanked in his country through digital finance.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“As a result of having been excluded from financial services, small business don’t get created.&#8221;
</blockquote>



After dropping out of high school, Ibrahim Musa, a small business owner based in Ghana, has become somewhat of a serial entrepreneur. With stints in everything from cold stores, car sales and, most recently, selling electronic goods in Makola Market, the country’s busiest local market, his biggest challenge is actually in the digital sphere.



For years, Musa has faced a major snag when it comes to opening a bank account for his small business due to the many regulations involved.



“Every time I try and open a bank account, I am asked for so many documents that I simply do not have. After being rejected several times, I just decided to use mobile money for my banking needs but that is very limited because you cannot have access to the full range of services traditional banks offer and that is a real problem for entrepreneurs like me,” says Musa.



He is not wrong. The problem he speaks of affects over 500 million people across sub-Saharan Africa who do not have, amongst other things, proof of official identity documents. This is according to a 2017 article by the World Economic Forum. The knock-on effect of this problem is that it has led to over 350 million adults being financially excluded and expected to live on cash without the use of financial facilities, cited in a report by AfricaNenda.



For Ghanaian entrepreneur, Tarek Mouganie, the only way to tackle a problem like this is through the development of digital financial services. His solution, Affinity Africa, is a digital bank.



Mouganie holds an engineering degree from Imperial College London and PhD from the University of Cambridge. After working in the United Kingdom (UK) for a number of years, he decided to relocate back to Ghana to help solve the problems of the country’s unbanked and underbanked. It took Mouganie four and a half years to build the company and it finally launched in 2022.



“With no marketing spend, we have acquired 30,000 accounts just by word of mouth and, for 90% of our customers, we are their first-ever bank account. We have helped our customers save $23 million to date and have provided $13 million worth of loans as well. The average revenue of our borrowers has gone up by 500% and their employment base has gone by 3.5 times, so we are seeing growth,” says Mouganie.



The implementation of mobile money certainly is a silver lining for the future of the unbanked but according to Mouganie, it simply provides access. There is a deeper need to be addressed for small business holders.



“Our bank accounts are free, we don’t have any monthly charges and we provide interest across all accounts and that is a unique proposition. Our lending specifically focuses on small businesses which is what traditional banks don’t typically do,” says Mouganie.



He believes the problem is endemic to how African governments run their economies.



“If you look at OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries, the tax to GDP ratio is 33%. If you look at Africa, it is 16%. So, we are the lowest tax-paying continent in the world and for this reason, governments typically don’t have money which causes a huge amount of issues. But what is even worse is that a majority of our taxation is indirect –VAT, E-levy and other solutions that are quite regressive.”



“The reason that exists is because we have a huge informal sector and as a result of having been excluded from financial services, small business don’t get created,” Mouganie adds.



According to Mouganie, the reason why small businesses are important is because in developed countries, they employ about 60% of the population and drive about 50% of government revenue.



“In our part of the world, that is just not the case. So, to create employment and build resilient economies, we need to support small businesses, nurture them and encourage those new businesses to be registered, so that we can drive employment and socio-economic development,” says Mouganie.



This is, perhaps, what makes Affinity’s growth noteworthy.



The journey has been far from easy. The stringent process of obtaining a banking license has proven to be a challenge for many fintech entrepreneurs in the past. But Mouganie was so confident in his vision that he sold his house in London to invest in Affinity and set out to conquer the hurdle of regulatory approvals.



“Regulators exist because they are there to protect the consumer and who is the consumer? In our case, it is our customer and the regulator in Ghana wanted to support economic growth and support small businesses. We came up with a proposition of increasing financial inclusion in the true term and not just giving accessibility, which is what mobile money and digital money has done, but very much focus on affordability as well,” says Mouganie.



He founded Affinity with the aim to solve the problem of financial inclusion through digital finance and based on the growth Mouganie has achieved so far, the digital bank is ready to transform Ghana’s unbanked sector, one customer at a time.

Tarek Mouganie; image supplied1

The Ghanaian Entrepreneur Who Sold His House In London To Build The Dreams Of SMEs  

Following a year of increased remittance flow in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank anticipates further growth this year. Nevertheless, challenges and issues requiring attention accompany this projection.



In its latest Migration and Development Brief titled Remittances Brave Global Headwinds with a Special Focus on Climate Migration, the World Bank projects a 2.5% growth in remittance flows to Nigeria, Ghana, and other sub-Saharan African countries this year. Remittance flows to the region are anticipated to have risen by approximately 1.9% in 2023, reaching $54 billion. Notably, remitting $200 to sub-Saharan Africa incurred an average cost of 7.9% in the second quarter.



Nigeria, as the largest remittance recipient in the region, is expected to receive over $20 billion in official remittances by the end of 2023, marking a slight increase compared to the previous year. Remittances to Nigeria, constituting 38% of the region&#8217;s total, grew by about 2%, while Ghana experienced estimated gains of 5.6%. The growth trend extended to other nations, including Mozambique (48.5%), Rwanda (16.8%), Ethiopia (16%), and Kenya (3.8%).



Despite the 3.8% growth in remittances to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in 2023, a moderation from previous years, the World Bank expresses concern about the potential decline in real income for migrants due to global inflation and low growth prospects. Remittance flows to LMICs, estimated at $669 billion, have been resilient, supported by stable labor markets in advanced economies and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.



However, the World Bank forecasts a further softening in the growth of remittances to LMICs to 3.1%, driven by slowing economic growth and weaker job markets in high-income countries. Additional risks include volatile oil prices, currency exchange rate fluctuations, and the possibility of a deeper-than-expected economic downturn in high-income nations.



Iffath Sharif, Global Director of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank, emphasizes in a statement the importance of inclusive labor markets and social protection policies for migrants, whose remittances act as a vital lifeline for developing countries.



“During crises, migrants have weathered risks and shown resilience to support families back home. But high inflation and subdued global growth is affecting how much money they can send,” notes Sharif.



The Remittances Prices Worldwide Database reveals persistently high remittance costs, averaging 6.2% to send $200 in the second quarter. Banks remain the costliest channel for remittances (12.1%), followed by post offices (7%), money transfer operators (5.3%), and mobile operators (4.1%).



Dilip Ratha, lead economist and lead author of the report, advocates leveraging remittances for private capital mobilization to support development finance, particularly through diaspora bonds. Ratha explains that “remittance flows to developing countries have surpassed the sum of foreign direct investment and official development assistance in recent years, and the gap is increasing”.



Nigerian investor Moses Adeolubodun views this development as a positive signal for investment opportunities within the region.



&#8220;I believe that this upward trajectory is a testament to the resilience and potential of these economies. The growth further signifies a positive economic outlook, and as an investor, I see promising opportunities for strategic investments,&#8221; Adeolubodun tells FORBES AFRICA.



Although acknowledging the challenges highlighted by the World Bank, Adeolubodun remains confident in the long-term potential of sub-Saharan Africa, emphasizing the importance of diversified investment portfolios to navigate economic uncertainties.



&#8220;Fostering an environment conducive to remittance growth is essential for sustainable economic development. This is an opportunity for governments and businesses in sub-Saharan Africa to explore innovative solutions that attract foreign investments and support economic growth,&#8221; says Adeolubodun.

Order whatever you need, anytime you need

‘Promising Opportunities’: World Bank Forecasts 2.5% Increase In Remittances To Nigeria, Ghana And Other Sub-Saharan Africa Countries

Ghanaian entrepreneur Alima Bello, the founder of Bello Edu, would have been toiling away in a greasy oil seed factory had she not chosen to ignite her passion for contemporary fashion design.



Fashion and art are often synonymous. Just ask Ghanaian fashion entrepreneur Alima Bello, who in 2014 launched a contemporary womenswear brand named Bello Edu.



“We describe the clothes we are making as canvases for women,” says Bello on her body of work.



And as with every canvas, this dream too started on a blank sheet of paper.



As creative director of the brand, humble beginnings preceded international acclaim, such as showcasing her work on prestigious platforms like the Portugal Fashion Week as well as being stocked in retail outlets across Africa.



The challenges included facing an industry that makes it difficult to raise capital to fund entrepreneurial dreams.



“Fashion is such a seasonal business, and a lot of traditional finance institutions don’t understand how it works. It takes time,” says Bello, reiterating the words of most startup founders in the fashion sector.



“The way the fashion cycle works; you get a loan, you do your samples, you start taking your photographs, start doing your campaign, start getting your pieces into retailers and that takes about three months before you start seeing any income from your designs.”



Bello had to bootstrap her dream by creating capital working several odd jobs. Her career also did not take a linear path.



Growing up in her hometown in Kumasi, Bello was expected to graduate with a degree in business management from the University of Ghana and promptly join the family business.



“As a first-born child to a Yoruba man, my father expected me to finish school and join him in the family business and he designed my life that way – go to school to study business management and then finish and come back and work in an oil seed factory where we were processing soya bean oil, palm kernel oil and refining as well.”



That would have been a slippery slope, but thankfully, serendipity came calling.



Bello was privileged enough to have her father fund her travels abroad during school breaks when she would indulge in her love of fashion. But after graduation and once she started working for him, he told her she must buy her own tickets to London because he was no longer paying for them. It meant she couldn’t shop abroad and had to relegate her fashion choices to the boutiques of Kumasi.



“[But] if I found stuff I liked, they wouldn’t have the color or size I wanted,” recalls Bello. 



The only alternative was to start making her own clothes. That interest transformed into a calling and with that, Bello managed to convince her father to let her follow her dreams to pursue fashion.



“It took me two to three years to convince him that I wanted to move to Accra to start my business. But when I moved, I couldn’t find a fashion job with any established designer or brand. So, I found a job with a furniture company that had an interior design unit.”



Bello’s thinking was if she could find a job and see how brands interacted with customers, it would give her a better understanding of what customers were looking for and see how the customer-facing side of the business worked. But that did not pan out well and she found a part-time job in an ad agency doing administrative work and spent her spare time “pattern-drafting”.



Although she was garnering interest with her designs and being invited to showcase her work on some platforms like other designers, Bello decided to take some time out and focus on building her brand.



“It took some time to define who the Bello Edu target is; who am I designing for and what my brand story is. I took my time to answer these questions; trying to flesh out the ‘why I want to do this’ and ‘for whom am I doing this’.”



After some soul-searching, she finally understood.



“The Bello Edu woman is 33 to 35. She is a hard-working woman and confident of who she is. She likes to splurge every now and then but is very conscious about where her money goes. She can buy a luxury bag and a t-shirt from Zara and pants from Bello Edu. She doesn’t take herself way too seriously and she takes life as it comes.”



And with that, came the biggest turning point in Bello’s career. She rented her first brick and mortar store in 2017 and that is when it became “real”. Then came the challenges. By 2018, Bello had depleted her entire life savings trying to keep the business afloat. Although the brand was attracting some sales, the money was not enough to sustain the business.



“I would get so stressed that my jaws would lock up. I had dried up everything and I had workers depending on me. We were not making enough to [even] pay for our overheads,” says Bello.



Then 2020 came and Covid-19 hit. What should have spelled the end of her business brought unexpected respite. “When the lockdown happened, along with the Black Lives Matter movement, there was a boost in sales for black-owned businesses. We got featured on certain platforms and there were more eyes on the brand and that is what helped to boost sales and keep as alive. We didn’t have a marketing budget and everything we have done today has been based on word-of-mouth.”



Today, the brand is in a much more comfortable space and the vision has evolved, she admits. “African fashion had become so popular, and the prints were so bold and in your face. My personal taste is very minimal when it comes to the choice of colors and prints. I wanted to create a brand that would serve as a canvas,” says Bello of her minimalist designs but maximum dreams.

Alima Bello; image supplied

What It Takes To Build A Fashion Brand In Ghana

Growing up poor in Ghana, Kwaku Boateng Brommon had to sell water to make ends meet. The handmade bespoke suits he now designs for the country’s affluent and powerful tell a tale of hardship and tenacity.



Not many can go from selling sachets of water in a remote village in Ghana at the age of nine to having a private audience with the president of their country in the same lifetime. But that is exactly what happened to Kwaku Boateng Brommon.



He vividly remembers the day he walked into what is essentially Ghana’s Oval Office at the presidential residence in Accra, with a handful of bespoke suits made specifically for President Nana Akufo-Addo.



The moment, forever etched in his memory, was a turning point for the young entrepreneur whose trajectory to the top of the Ghanaian fashion industry has been all but conventional.



“Sitting in his office I had a flashback to when I was a kid standing in the market selling my pure water and I was like ‘How did I get here?’ A village boy sitting in the office of the president was impossible and the story played like a movie in my mind,” recalls Brommon.



And like all great dreams, Brommon faced impossible odds. The first roadblock he had to overcome was poverty.



“I grew up with my grandparents and as far as I can remember, I never met my mum until I was in my teens because she had left for London. My dad was a teacher in Nigeria and he came back to Ghana when I was nine. Growing up was tough because I was poor and I had to fend for anything I needed. After school, I would go home, go to the fridge, pack my water and travel to the markets to sell.



“I would do two trips before I [returned] home in the evening and the cash I got selling water is what I would use as pocket money at school. I did that for six years and I also went to the farm with my dad to plant crops and we would harvest the food and take it to the local market to sell. It was tough and I felt like living in Ghana was torture,” says Brommon.



The first chance he got to beat poverty came when he moved to London, United Kingdom (UK), at the age of 14 to live with his mother; and the whole world opened up to Brommon.



Wanting to put to good use the hard work and tenacity he had learned in Ghana, he decided to drop out of college and pursue his passion – fashion.



“From an early age, I always liked to look good and keep my clothes clean. I remember asking myself ‘What is the closest area of work [that would] pull me into this passion of mine?’ I thought I should find a job in a clothing store, which I did.”



By 18, he was working for a retail shop in London, staying on in the industry for about 12 years. 



Every time he would get a break from work, he would roam the West End in London, a popular cultural hub with retail stores, restaurants and a theater district, for hours, window-shopping and studying the impeccable materials used for crafting high-end wear. After stints with luxury brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Hackett London, Paul Smith and Alexander McQueen, Brommon realized that he had reached a glass ceiling in the UK and needed a change.



“I had become a father and had two kids to take care of so just looking at them and looking at where I was at the time, I knew there was more to me than what I was doing; I had to find my purpose. I didn’t want a hand-to-mouth lifestyle anymore and seeing my kids running around in the tiny



apartment we lived in at the time – I was married – and I just thought this can’t be it,” says Brommon.



He decided to forge a new path for his future and returned to Ghana.



The Ghana that he found torturous was gone and here was this buzzing, upwardly-mobile and cosmopolitan city Accra firmly asserting itself as the latest destination for those brave enough to follow their dreams.



That is exactly what Brommon needed.



“Accra was new to me because I had lived in a village. The place was buzzing with new ideas and people were starting new businesses. I met a friend who was into finance and every time I visited Ghana, I would see him and we would hang out. This was a well-to-do individual and he used to advise that whatever I do, I must make sure Ghana is part of the plan, and 



I could see it myself,” says Brommon.



The trips to Accra became more frequent and on those times, he received consistent orders from professionals in Ghana for quality suits and clothing from London, primarily because they couldn’t find top brands in Accra in keeping with their aspirations.



“They said that if they [could find] one supplier who had great quality [brands], they would buy it locally but it just didn’t exist,” recalls Brommon. That was all he needed to hear.



“I said ‘They want quality and easy access, so what if I am able to start my own brand.’ I was done with the UK. I told my wife that I needed to move back alone and have that freedom to move around and hustle and so, I asked her to take care of the kids whilst I managed. I felt I needed to follow this vision.” Even when people discouraged his ideas, Brommon believed differently. The desire to create a luxury bespoke suit line in Ghana had been birthed and there was no turning back.



His research took him to Italy, Amsterdam and Spain in search of the best manufacturers of suits and he struck deals with them. It felt good to start a journey on his own.



“I said if it doesn’t work, at least I would have tried. I remember the factory [I had approached] told me I needed about £20,000 and I didn’t have a penny. So, I said to [them], ‘Sign me up and agree to the terms



and give me six months and if I don’t pay that money back to you, we can cancel’, ” says Brommon.



His pitch worked and with the necessary tools that he needed and £50 to his name, he returned to Accra and started knocking on every door he could find to tell people about his bespoke suits.



His biggest hurdle was trying to convince professional,



well-heeled Ghanaians to fork out $1,200-$1,400-a-piece for an unknown designer. But Brommon was convinced all he needed was one client and the rest would be history.



“This was 2014 and everyone [asked] ‘Why should I buy from you when I can spend the same amount of money on a Gucci or Tom Ford suit?’ I was on the street pitching for business for three months before one person known to be a fashionable lawyer decided to give my brand a try,” says Brommon.



After four weeks, the suit was delivered from Italy and the feedback was a resounding success. One order turned to multiple requests and Brommon was able to repay his manufacturer in three months.



As he helped the President of Ghana try on his sleek, sharp suit, it was clear to Brommon that his vision was slowly taking shape. As a recognizable force in the luxury suit and menswear market in West Africa and as founder of Brommon and Laxiri with a flagship store in Accra, he now has his eyes set on the rest of the continent.

bespoke

The Right Fit: Designing Bespoke Suits For Ghana’s Affluent

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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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“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.



<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 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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-1024x341.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-53596" width="748" height="248" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-1024x341.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-300x100.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-768x256.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/banner-2048x683.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px" /></figure></div>

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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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /></figure><div class="wp-block-media-text__content">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“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.



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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.



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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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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.



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



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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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 is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" 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="auto, (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; 



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



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Tag: Ghana

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