FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR ALL- BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN GHANA

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”

Ghana is a country blessed with many good resources. God has blessed Ghana beyond our imaginations.

Much as there are great business opportunities in this country, Ghana is still bedeviled with many nasty things, like filth, unacceptable road accidents, illegal mineral mining and the pollution of water bodies, maltreatment of patients at various hospitals, indiscriminate cutting down of timber and other trees, unacceptable post-harvest losses, deadly application of chemicals on farm produce, usage of dirty water for watering vegetables in the cities, especially. There are also unacceptable bureaucratic practices in registering businesses currently in Ghana. Go to the Registrar General Department and you would experience what I am saying.

What are regulatory the authorities doing to stop and discourage all these practices? I don’t know why these authorities exist in the first place, because many of them are not really functioning.

I don’t need to mention these authorities, though I could, without fear or favour. They know themselves and they need to wake up from their sleepless slumber. As Bob Marley said “Rise from your sleepless slumber” These authorities are not sleeping yet they are not awake too. This lukewarm attitude cannot help. Wake up or just sleep!

Ghana is a land full of milk and honey, yet many Ghanaians are not able to take the opportunities and even where they have the potential to take the milk and honey, they would be denied, but in many cases people just refuse to see the opportunities before them. I must also add that, some few try to take up these opportunities, but get frustrated along the way by people, who seek for their personal gains without thinking of the greater benefits for all in the long term.

Today, in Ghana business opportunities abound in many sectors, small or big. These business opportunities can be taken up by Ghanaians as well as foreigners, but it seems it’s only the foreigners’ mind’s eyes that can see these opportunities, or is it because they have the purchasing power? Well, not in all cases. The other thing is that Ghanaians have the attitude of helping foreigners to succeed rather than their own brothers and sisters. Ghanaians give preferential treatment to foreigners and frustrate or even sometimes deny their colleague Ghanaians. This is very bad. Why not give the same treatment to all human beings?

Business opportunities that we should consider can include:

·        Kenkey factories and modern large scale kenkey business- we all know that kenkey, being that of the Fanti’s one or the Ga’s one is being patronized by many Ghanaians all the time and I believe strongly that is a great market here. Innovative, healthy ways of preparing and serving kenkey could be another big business added to the fufus, bankus, rices, etc, served at restaurants and hotels.

·        Brewing of Pito- another good business is the local drink brewed mostly in northern Ghana, especially Upper East and West Regions and mostly by the same northern people in southern Ghana. Every time, you see many people gather at pito houses to drink pito and you wonder, what at all does pito have? Some spend hours there drinking and discussing businesses and other issues.  One thing is that all these pito houses are small-sized and mostly don’t meet standards, though I don’t know if they are being regulated, I believe they should be.  My brothers and sisters from the north, this is a good business opportunity that one can take up and add innovation and more creativity to it in terms of branding and packaging and lo and behold, one would be on one’s way of getting rich right there in northern Ghana. I’m from the Upper East and I take only the unfermented one as it is called it but I have heard people hail pito as a good local drink that has some health benefits. Again, though, I don’t really go many places but I’m yet to see any modern pito house of that high standard, where dignitaries and big men and women could go and sit down and drink pito like they do with beers, wines, at decent spots and restaurants. Why not brand pito and package it well so it could be sold at the big restaurants and hotels?

I have also heard that these days, some unscrupulous pito brewers have been adding some strange or foreign substances to their pito to make it “stronger” or “harder”. I believe this should be checked by the authorities that are supposed to regulate pito brewing, so that the real pito made up of just millet and water is brewed for people to drink. The health of the Ghanaian should be the concern of all and as a responsibility of those paid to protect the Ghanaian from consuming unapproved substances added to pito when it’s brewed.

Natural pito prepared and served could become a big business venture for entrepreneurs, who would to go into it. It just has to be branded and packaged well.

·        Road Accidents in Ghana, I have written a long article  on road accidents in Ghana and you can read from this link: http://g-xavierayeebo.blogspot.com/2010/07/road-accidents-in-ghana.html

It is one issue which is very dear to my heart. I hate the way many people are dying on our roads and nothing is really being done about it.

We have what we call spiritual money, (see link: http://opinion.myjoyonline.com/pages/feature/201104/64649.php) which is not really about money but just about doing God’s work that eventually results in making you rich. I believe there is spiritual money in road accidents in Ghana. Individuals and organizations that would dedicate their resources to fighting road accidents in Ghana to almost a zero-level would experience phenomenal riches in the form of spiritual money. I believe world class professional training and education of drivers, auto mechanics and other professionals connected with cars and vehicles and also with collaboration developed among the Ghana Police, DVLA, Road Safety Commission or Authority, various lorry stations and terminals and other stakeholders can help reduce road accidents in Ghana.

I would urge individuals and organizations to take this up and help, if possible eliminate road accidents in Ghana.

·        Medical Tourism, I have also indicated my desire that part of the oil revenue (see link: http://g-xavierayeebo.blogspot.com/2010/07/oil-revenue.html?spref=bl) should be used to create medical tourism in Ghana. How long would our dignitaries continue to travel outside to seek medical treatment any time, they fall sick?

 It is disgusting, how Ghanaian patients are being handled and treated at the various health centres in this country, especially patients at the so-called government hospitals, clinics, health centres, etc. Sick people are maltreated and not catered for very well and nobody dear talk. Let’s have stiff competition from foreigners coming to set up big modern hospitals with their business acumen and care and let’s see if the those Ghanaian medical professionals, who don’t not value their patients can continue to do that and let’s see if that Ghanaian medical professional would continue to be in demand and be in business? There is so much business in this sector and I urge foreign investors to come and invest in the provision of world classes medical facilities and to provide medical services to compete away the super normal profits made by the clinics and also teach those Ghanaian medical professionals, who do not value their patients.

Just, August, this year, 2012, one of my nephews had a motor accident at Atebubu and was eventually transferred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi. We first went to the Polyclinic department and we were taken by an ambulance to the Accident Emergency Unit (AEU) and when we got to the AEU, it was 4pm and as at 6pm we had not been attended to, meanwhile, the Doctor, who was supposed to attend to us, was over there roaming about doing nothing. Initially, I complained to one of the nurses, who was actually hardworking that day, at least I saw attending to patients and being nice to them, but there was this other dark coloured diminutive nurse, they described as a mistress or so, who over heard me complaining and she just exclaimed, “Ah, you came at 4pm and you are complaining!” Later I complained to the Doctor and it didn’t take that long, he attended to my nephew. I know that it was not my complaint that made him do his work, but why did they have to wait and wait and wait without attending to the sick people at an even an emergency unit, though it was at the minor treatment section, does it matter? I had experienced similar treatment at the same hospital in 1998 on two different occasions when two family members were not well and got admitted over there. One of them my direct elder brother even died over there in 1998. Around, the same time, there was this great, kind, and real professional doctor Called Dr. Aboah. Dr Aboah at KATH was and I believe if he is still at KATH or wherever he is, he would continue to be loved by all his patients. He is a kind of a medical professional Ghana needs not those, who insult their patients.

Ghana therefore needs real humane medical professionals to come and help take good care of its greatest assets, the human resource. It is true that Ghana has many kind-hearted medical professionals, the majority especially many of the nurses don’t treat the patients well at all. Most of the kind-hearted Ghanaian medical professionals are found at the private hospitals and clinics. Why, can’t that be replicated at the Government or public hospitals and clinics?

Ghanaians would be prepared to pay appropriate commensurate medical fees for treatment and not complain when the services provided are satisfactory. 

·        Waste Management, Zoomlion, a Ghanaian waste management company is really doing well in this sector since its advent and has not reneged, but I believe Zoomlion is over burdened by the filth that has engulfed Ghana. I would encourage indigenous Ghanaians to take up this opportunity to help Zoomlion clean Ghana.

Few days, ago I heard the Minister of Local Government on Joy Fm talking on new government initiatives on sanitation in Ghana. I hope it would not be a nine day wonder. He said many good things as usual, but thing that I want to share with you is that he said, if you see your colleague Ghanaian throw some rubbish into some drain, or gutter, tell that person, that his/her should use his/her  brain not the drain. “Use your brain, not the drain” . I hope this phrase would catch up with many Ghanaians, especially the dirty intellectuals. This was from the Minister’s mouth. We should be shaming people in public when they throw trash into the drain.  

·        Islamic Banking-This is currently not practiced in Ghana. I would therefore urge Asian banks that are practicing Islamic banking to come to Ghana and I believe they would be overwhelmed by the customer base they would build within a short time.

·        Agriculture & Farming- It is true that everywhere in Ghana, one can sow seeds or plant seedlings and one is very sure the seeds or seedlings will blossom and bear good food or fruit. I don’t understand why governments, especially those that call themselves social democrats are not practicing commercial or large scale farming to feed the citizenry. Farming in the southern or northern Ghana can be in mango trees, teak trees, avocado trees, pea trees, cola trees, pineapples, guavas, cassavas, yams, potatoes, millet, maize, beans, sheabutter trees, black berry trees, grapes, peppers, garden eggs, okras and all vegetables, cotton, cocoa, coffee, timber, bamboo, rice, rubber plantation and many others. Other related businesses in farming are transportation, warehousing and other storage facilities, farm inputs and implements, provision of irrigational facilities, like dams, pods, pipelines connected to lakes, rivers, streams and other water bodies for watering farms. Each identified above could be taken as a business venture.

·        Transportation- This is also one of the biggest industries, looking at the provision of sea, land, rail and air transport services. In Ghana, today, almost all travelling is done by road with very little in air transport. The rail line system has collapsed and there is nothing when it comes to travelling by sea or on any water body, canal, river, etc, meanwhile, there are rivers and streams everywhere in this country. One sad thing is that car and lorry drivers are fleecing Ghanaians and at the same time killing Ghanaians through reckless driving on the high ways. Better modern transportation alternatives are needed in Ghana to help make these reckless drivers reason and sit up.

·        Herbal Medicine- The good news is that Ghana has almost all the medicinal plants to handle any ailment, yet we have been conditioned to believe in only the efficacy of orthodox medicine. I believe the government of Ghana should enact stringent good laws to protect and promote herbal medicine and practitioners and also help promote herbal medicine for local consumption and export. We should protect our dear herbs and make profitable use of them.    

·        Oil and Gas – The oil should be refined in Ghana eventually and all the by-products should be enjoyed by Ghanaians first. Every business minded person knows the good businesses in the oil and gas industry. To begin to give a list would be time-consuming.  It is crystal clear.

·        ICT-This is good a business sector that will be booming in Ghana, because ICT usage is still very low in this country. Access to the internet is very low and I believe the internet service providers currently operating in Ghana are waiting for a new service provider to come and connect the net to all houses in this country before they begin screaming. We saw it when it happened to the then Ghana Telecom, one needed plenty Ghanaian cedis to buy the chip and even at many times, people had the money and wouldn’t get the chip to buy because they were hoarding them to make supernormal profits, in the end they made losses and sold off Ghana Telecom to Vodafone.

Access to the internet should be like electricity make available to everybody on prepaid or post basis and people would patronize it. If one needs internet service in one’s house, the workers of Vodafone would tell you stories to scare one away and then think they are smart. Well, let’s wait to see, very soon the same workers would be laid off for redundancy and they would turn around to accuse someone of their own bad deeds.

Ghanaian needs internet services in all their homes and the service provider that will take the lead would not regret venturing into it.

Ghana, a peaceful country with lovely and lively people is a country that abounds with many business opportunities for the small, medium and large business persons and entities.

I would like to urge and encourage the Ghanaian and foreign business men and women to invest their resources in Corporate Ghana as they would reap bountifully.  

“Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage”

©2012, Godwin-Xavier Ayeebo

Email: gayeebo@gmail.com

Blog: www. g-xavierayeebo.blogspot.com