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Building profitable ventures: The story of three audacious entrepreneurs
Starting a business can be quite challenging as it requires a tough mind-set and clear vision in order to succeed. In this edition, we highlight the stories of three young Ghanaian entrepreneurs who have trodden slippery roads to establish viable ventures.
They are Ms. Ruby Buah, the Founder of Kua Designs and Kua Kids, Mr. Kevin Okyere, Founder & C.E.O of Springfield Energy, as well as Kimberley and Priscilla Addison, Founders of ’57 Chocolate brand.
Ruby Buah
In 2009, she transitioned from working as a Financial Analyst to start her fashion business. She worked at Coca Cola Enterprises in Atlanta, Georgia, before looking for a creative outlet and began experimenting with various types of art in her leisure time.
What began as a pastime in jewellery-making swiftly grew into a company. She moved to New York three years after starting her part-time jewellery company to get a degree in Jewellery Design at the famed Fashion Institute of Technology.
Unsurprisingly, she expanded her jewellery range by adding an equally exciting handbag line. After a few years of running her elegant store in Ghana, she expanded it further in 2015 by introducing a children’s brand.
Ruby says “she makes an effort to appreciate the less glamorous aspects of her profession as much as she treasures the finished items that line the shelves of her luxury store in Accra.”
The brand name ‘Kua’ has a dual meaning: It is Ruby’s mother’s name and also means “Keeping us Authentic”. The name, according to her, “is most appropriate for her collection which incorporate authentic gemstones and original African fabrics straight from Ghana.”
Kevin Okyere
The CEO and philanthropist displayed entrepreneurial potentials at a very young age. By the time he was 11, he was already selling iced water to football supporters at the Kumasi Sports Stadium to make extra pocket money.
During his family’s annual summer vacation trips to London, he would take on jobs with textile companies in the U.K. After completing his High School education in Ghana, he proceeded to the United States where he studied Accounting at George Mason University in Virginia. While studying, he took several jobs at varying points.
He moved backed to Ghana in 2004 and joined his elder sister in her business to understand how the country worked. A year after working for his sister, he put together a small team of investors and established Westland Alliance Ltd, a telecoms company that provided international call routing services for AT&T and several international calling card companies.
The company was extremely successful, but it was not long before he got tired of the telecoms business and decided to opt-out.
Later, he started working with a business acquaintance who supplied crude oil and condensates to the Tema refinery. As he interacted frequently with this associate, he learned that there was a shortfall of storage facilities for petroleum products in Tema.
Flush with cash from his telecom adventures, he acquired land and began building a storage tank farm in Tema, close to the refinery. This marked the genesis of Springfield Energy’s flagship trading business.
“Unlike in the U.S, Ghana was virgin territory for a lot of businesses. There were too many opportunities to explore in Ghana and I knew I could be more successful home than abroad. I knew I wanted to run my own business, but I wasn’t even sure of what I was going to do,” he told Forbes in 2018.
Kimberley & Priscilla Addison
Starting a bean-to-bar chocolate business in Ghana was not the sisters’ original career trajectory.
Kimberly studied French and International Relations with a concentration in social justice at Boston College while Priscilla majored in French and International Development, with focus on food security, at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.
Both were interested in non-profit sectors addressing women’s education, human trafficking, value chains and agriculture. But a visit to one of Switzerland’s largest chocolate factories inspired their venture into confectionery.
Once they returned to Ghana, they started by roasting raw cacao with a standard kitchen oven in their home. They took courses on chocolate making and confections and trained with people in the field and did lot of research and reading about the industry.
They developed their chocolate recipes through trial and error and received feedback from family, friends, and visitors who worked within and outside of the chocolate industry, while seeking advice from people who worked in the industry.
The Chocolate was first launched in 2016 with five signature flavours: 73 per cent dark chocolate, 55 per cent milk, white, mocha latte (coffee flavour) and bissap (hibiscus flavour). The company name ’57 is short for 1957, the year of Ghana’s independence.
“57 is about patriotism and sparking the entrepreneurial spirit among the Ghanaian youth and using unique Ghanaian symbols.
“Over the long-term, we aim to create an African chocolate brand that is known world-wide, but most importantly one that surpasses our lifetime. We are working towards having our chocolate sold across the continent of Africa and around the globe.
“We hope for our chocolate to continue to reflect and build upon the unique traditions and culture that make us call Ghana and Africa at large home! We hope that ‘57 Chocolate inspires people from Ghana, and across the continent especially the youth, to create, develop, and consume made in Africa products of premium value,” the sisters noted.
By Spectator Reporter
The Global Network of Export-Import Banks and Development Finance Institutions (G-NEXID) successfully held its sixth (6th) Exchange Programme, hosted by the Ghana Export – Import Bank (GEXIM) Bank in Accra from March 22 to 23 March.
The event brought together member institutions, partner organisations and Ghanaian public entities to advance dialogue on South-South trade, investment and development finance, while also creating opportunities for knowledge-sharing and institutional cooperation.
Organised as a capacity-building and networking platform, the 2026 edition of the G-NEXID Exchange focused on GEXIM’s experience in developing innovative solutions to promote intra-African and extra-African trade.
It also highlighted trade and investment opportunities in Ghana, particularly in the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and broader national development initiatives.
The Exchange Programme forms part of G-NEXID’s mandate to foster cooperation among export-import banks and development finance institutions in support of South-South trade and investment.
This 6th edition follows earlier successful programmes hosted by India Exim Bank (2016), BNDES (2017), Indonesia Eximbank (2018), Afreximbank (2019) and Saudi EXIM Bank (2025).
On the first day, participants were presented with G-NEXID institutional information and received an update on the Network’s 2026 work programme.
There were a series of substantive presentations, including an overview of the Ghanaian economy by the Ministry of Finance, with particular attention to debt-related challenges; a presentation by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), on investment opportunities in the country; and institutional presentations by GEXIM and Development Bank Ghana (DBG) on their respective mandates, initiatives, products and services.
Discussions during the sessions underscored strong interest in sector-focused webinars and business dialogues, particularly in agribusiness value chains such as poultry and rice.
Participants also emphasized the importance of continued information exchange and the sharing of best practices, especially in the area of guarantees.
The second day opened with a presentation on the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, a national economic transformation strategy launched by President John Dramani Mahama in July 2025.
The initiative aims to enhance economic productivity through continuous industrial activity, accelerated export development and strategic import substitution.
As the programme is expected to mobilise both private and development capital, it presents concrete opportunities for G-NEXID members in areas such as co-financing, guarantees, trade finance and technical cooperation.
The programme also featured institutional presentations by guest organisations, namely the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE) and the West African Development Bank (BOAD), which shared their mandates, initiatives, products and services.
Following these exchanges, the G-NEXID Secretariat held bilateral discussions with both institutions as part of the Network’s ongoing membership drive.
Participants further benefited from a presentation by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), as well as a showcase of GEXIM’s key pipeline projects.
On the margins of the Exchange Programme, G-NEXID members also held their 20th Annual General Assembly Meeting to review progress and discuss strategic priorities.
Following the event, participants joined the GEXIM@10 International Conference, held from March 24-25, 2026 under the theme, “A Decade of Enabling Export Trade and Industrial Transformation: Resetting GEXIM for the Next Frontier.”
The conference provided an important platform for exploring how Ghana can strengthen its transition from a primary commodity exporter to a more competitive player in value-added trade and industrial development.
Source – G-NEXID
President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, signed five bills including three amendment bills passed by Parliament into law.
They are: Security and Intelligence Agencies Bill, 2025; University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Bill, 2025; Ghana Deposit Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2025; Growth and Sustainability Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2026; and Education Regulatory Bodies (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
In a brief remark after assenting to the bills, President Mahama explained that the Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, 2026, scraps the Office of Minister of National Security and frees the President’s to appoint any Minister to supervise the security agencies.
He said it also reverses the name of the office of National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), to the original name, Bureau of National Intelligence, (BNI).
This the President said, addresses the confusion between that security agency and a well-known Ghanaian financial institution, the National Investment Bank.
President Mahama also noted that the University of Engineering and Agricultural Sciences Act, 2026, establishes another University in the Eastern Region, at Bonsu, with three campuses – the main campus at Bonsu in the Eastern Region, with the second campus to be cited at Ohawu in the Oti Region.
The third, the Presdient assed will be located at Acherensua in the Ahafo Region.
Touching on the Amendment to the Growth and Sustainability Levy Act, the President said, “As you’re aware, the act was amended to increase it from 1% to 3%, and so this act reduces it again. That is the levy on mining companies. It reduces it again to 1%, because of the introduction of the sliding scale of royalties.”
He also spoke to the passage of the Government Education Regulatory Bodies Amendment Act, emphasising that amends Act 1023 to grant greater flexibility to private tertiary institutions and the option to Charter.
The Ghana Deposit Protection Amendment Act, the President concluded, is an amendment to an original act that was supposed to guarantee deposits held in commercial banks or financial institutions.
It basically expands protection to include mobile money wallets and other digital platforms, ensuring a wider scope of digital financial assets are secured.
The signing ceremony, was witnessed by the Clerk of Parliament, Mr. Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, Secretary to the President, Dr Callistus Mahama, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Dr Dominic Akrutinga Ayine, Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, a Senior Presidential Advisor and a Special Aide to the President, Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, and the Vice President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang.
