My hope in Africa grows daily with my frequent following and interaction with young Ghanaian achievers, Ghana clearly has a future and better days ahead and who more to be the beacon than the youth who have shown unprecedented innovation, passion and a thirst for change with a spirit of entrepreneurship and leadership and have sworn with their various acts to defy the status quo and the norm to remind Ghanaians and Ghana that hope is still an attitude we can afford. As the year draws to a close I would like to acknowledge a few young (arguable) achievers whom I would like to virtually award for a good job done in their various fields of expertise. These “youngsters” have inspired, mentored and affected many with their skill and their hope in Ghana.
I have come across many Ashesi University students, been to their campuses on talk parties and sometimes to enjoy the beautiful scenery that encourages learning, and all of these moments have been filled with an exchange of ideas and knowledge and my number 1 spot would definitely go to Patrick Awuah Jr. who is raising the next breed of African leaders and technology gurus who have a passion for entrepreneurship and affecting Africa with the knowledge they have acquired.
Second spot would go to Alex Adjei Bram CEO of SMSGH Solutions one of Africa’s fast growing technology companies processing thousands of transactions on their power payment platform and recording highs on their SMS platforms amongst many others.
Three would have to go to Regina Agyare who in this year has brought a lot of attention to Ghana with her marvelous work at Soronko Solutions giving IT training to girls in deprived communities and constantly reminding us that “tech needs girls” a mantra which she has lived by. Regina had produced systems to corporate organizations and SMEs and telling the girls they can do same and even better.
LegenDerry Dean who amongst many things has made teaching technology to teachers a social responsibility would have to take the fourth spot, he and his team at Dreamoval Foundation have done this for the past three years or so and have earned some enviable recognition in that light. Nothing can be more powerful in a country that is suffering from education such as ours than a teacher who is well informed and is well vexed in finding information online and even finding methods to teach better and more effectively.
Five would go to Bernard Avle who has proven beyond all doubt that he is African at heart and would, with the power he wields at Citi 97.3 FM keep the elected on their feet and accountable to the electorate thereby empowering the electorate and pushing for social interventions for national growth.
Ɔdadeɛ Ato Ulzen-Appiah has to definitely make my list with his Barcamp Accra, GhanaThink Foundation, Ghana Volunteer Programinitiatives Ato with All three platforms is empowering, inspiring, and causing Ghanaians to volunteer to do altruistic activities in and around their communities to further drive national development.
Ghanaian Cartoonist and Software developer Eyram Akofa Tawia CEO of Leti Arts cannot go without mention. he is preserving our history with creation of comic characters like Ananse and developing them into games and puzzles for our edutainment
#Vim to all of you guys and i hope the coming year will bring with it some even more inspiring stories from your adventures #HappyNewYear #2015
