Business Analyst - June 2

Thursday, June 2, 2022
AFRICA MUST
INVEST IN ITS
LOCAL INVENTORS
OVEr the years, there have been records of
typical local Africans both young and old, who
have tried their hands-on inventions.
Africa has numerous problems and when
support is given to these people, they may end
up finding solutions to these problems.
In Ghana, Apostle Dr. Sarfo Kantanka has
also ventured into inventions. He has invented
so many items including vehicles. Even though
the government was seen purchasing a few of
Apostle Dr. Sarfo Kantanka’s vehicles, we here
still feel that what was to be done is to see the
government putting in money into Apostle Dr.
Sarfo Kantanka’s enterprise so that, the
intelligent man will in return train our teeming
unemployed youth.
This will solve our unemployment problems
and also expand our economy because more
taxes will be collected and then the
government will also not be burdened with
the issue of demonstrations by these
unemployed youths.
Back in the days at Ho in the Volta region,
there was this young man who invented a ship
that could float on water. This became an
inspiration for the youth around the Anglican
Quarters enclave at the time.
However, nothing profitable came out of
this young man’s ideas even though he was at
the time so much interested in conducting
more research and commercializing his ideas.
There is a documentary on Wonderland TV
about the exploits of a 67-year-old Nigerian,
Hadi Usman, who invented a cooking stove
that uses water and air pressure to generate
fire.
This comes amidst hikes in the price of gas
and kerosene in Nigeria and across the subregion
including Ghana.
According to the documentary, the gifted
Gombe technician said that, on 23rd January
1980, GASKIYA TA FI KWABO, a vernacular
tabloid in Nigeria, published how he
assembled a radio transmitter and operated a
community radio station in Gombe
Metropolis.
He revealed that there has not been any
support from the government there for him.
According to him, he prays that his
broadcast on Wonderland TV, brings some
opportunities so that he is able to expand
what he has done to the benefit of his people.
What they should begin to do is to focus on
how they can build an Africa combined with
support for youth talents especially our young
inventors. With this, it will have a positive
effect on our economies so that, at least the
huge borrowing will be avoided!
Businesses need
strong values for
brand sustainability
head of Strategy, echo
house Ghana Limited,
Abdullah Yusif
Mahmud, has stated
that to build and
sustain a strong brand
that will survive the
new normal and forge
forward, adoption of
strong values is very
essential.
he stressed that
embracing a
core value and
standing firm by
it in all
circumstances creates
unflinching trust between a
brand and client that is mutually
beneficial to both parties in the
long-term.
Referencing from echo
house’s point of view, the chief
strategist indicated that the
brand holds dear to heart a model
dubbed ‘ReD’, which simply
means Relevance, easy and
Distinctiveness – as these values
guide their operations and ensure
there is no deviation from the
core, no matter the project or
proposal.
“The ‘R’ is Relevance, and for
us that value
being part of the
brand means we
want to build a
relationship
which transcends
just buying and
selling; a service
to get the
consumer to
understand
whatever you are
selling.
“The ‘e’ stands
for easy, we want
to be easy to
access, to afford
and easy to enjoy,
and this makes
the brand
physically
available for
consumers to
identify and use
whenever they
need a solution in your field of
operation.
“The ‘D’ refers to
Distinctiveness, and this means
the brand should be
instantly/easily recognised from
other brands on the market,” he
said.
Adding to this, he emphasised
that brands should be mindful
when trying to be distinctive
rather than different, because
being different can be bad – and
no brand wants to be known in a
bad manner.
Touching on the impact of
COVID-19 on the creative arts and
innovations that urged the firm to
stay relevant, he stated that his
entity developed what is called
the ‘pot system’ – whereby staff
were grouped into various pots to
develop ideas and compare with
others in different pots, for the
best solution to be picked as the
final solution to put forward.
Furthermore, Mr. Mahmud
noted that COVID-19 also played a
key role in boosting economic
activities online. “Despite the
dreadful impact of COVID-19, one
of the things it has also done is
shifted the digital adoption
agenda to about five-10 years
faster. now, because of COVID-19,
people are working from home;
people can trade online without
crying about data and fear of
being duped.
“For us, it was about giving
consumers value and helping
them continue with their
business; so we developed an
online solution wherein we
created shops for businesses on
various platforms to sell their
products,” he added.
he made these remarks in an
interview on the sidelines of the
inaugural edition of Brand-COn
Africa in Accra, organised by the
B&FT and themed ‘Celebrating
Versatility and Innovation in the
Midst of a Pandemic’.