How did you get the idea to start your business? Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
Being an entrepreneur is at the heart of who I am. It is in my blood. It was, however, manifested when my entrepreneurship professor at college challenged me and I decided to take it to the next level.
The triple problems of poverty, high unemployment and environmental degradation beset rural communities in Ghana. This situation is forcing many energetic young women and men from rural Ghana to migrate to the urban areas, chasing for non-existing jobs. One way of addressing these problems was to use local resources, maximize the skills of the people, and enable partnerships throughout the value chain. Using this strategy, the Ghana Bamboo Bikes—manufactured from bamboo growing abundantly in the wild and unutilized—were promoted as an environment-friendly community-based alternative transportation option and livelihood activity for rural development. While most rural dwellers lack the skills and knowledge necessary to create wealth from the bamboo, Ghana Bamboo Bikes builds their capacity and creates employment for them. The workers are engaged as partners in development to ensure appreciation for the value of these natural resources, to help create added value to it and to create wealth for them and reduce poverty in the rural communities.