[Interview] Kojo Asante-Abedi: "The first step in the recovery of the Ghanaian economy is to improve business confidence"
Kojo Asante-Abedi is CEO of ExplainerDC in Ghana. Africa Business Communities had the opportunity to meet him.
Can you please introduce ExplainerDC to us?
We are a B2B company offering a full set of online services in Ghana and internationally. We incorporate a digital marketing agency for websites, social media, e-newsletters and other forms of online marketing. We offer a secure hosting platform, e-commerce, email services, virtual servers and cloud back-ups. We also use our diverse skills to provide consultancy and business solutions to our clients. Finally, we have partnerships in the Yellow Pages Ghana, Mobofree.com portals.
You have been with ExplainerDC for over three year now. How did you see the company develop?
We have focused on our organisation and built skills, processes and capabilities in-house. Sharpening up internally allows us to offer our clients more value for less cost and better meet their needs with an improved range of services across the board.
Which clients - or what sort of clients – does ExplainerDC work for?
We work for the full range of clients from large corporates to small NGOs in a wide range of sectors from banking to sports development. We meet their multi-lingual needs and support those with complex online offerings.
How does ExplainerDC distinguish itself from the competition?
Our track record speaks for itself - ExplainerDC’s dependability and client support is second to none. We care about our clients’ businesses as much as our own. Our quality and range of services mean that we can compete successfully at the international level, regardless of origin.
The whole world is looking at the development of mobile banking in Kenya. How is Ghana doing in mobile banking?
In Ghana this is a rapidly evolving area with a number of technical, regulatory and user factors being addressed. I believe a local solution will emerge in the next 12 – 18 months that will meet the needs of the Ghanaian marketplace. Kenya is ahead in terms of implementation and experience on the ground, but is based around a single operator. I believe the Ghanaian model will have greater usability given the number and variety of players involved – telcos, banks and microfinance companies.
What is your vision on the role that both internet and mobile can play in the development of the African Economy?
These two channels have the ability to transform the lives of the African population. As bandwidth and coverage continue to grow rapidly, and hopefully data costs fall, access to content, services and merchants will help to leapfrog the physical infrastructure gap and lower the cost of doing business. First generation e-business models have been expensive and experimental, but lessons are rapidly being learned and I expect a very different usage in three to five years’ time that will save money and improve convenience for the consumer and open new markets for businesses.
The Ghana Economy has been experiencing hard times recently. How did Ghana get into this situation and how will it recover?
The Ghanaian economic difficulties are multi-dimensional with both internal and external causes. The recovery will start at the macro level and extend downwards to companies and individuals. Since the government is such a major participant in the economy, policy decisions and implementation will be key determinants of what happens in 2015 and 2016.
What can theGhana Government do in order to help improving business environment?
The first step is to improve business confidence. This will free up corporate investment and spending decisions that have been put on hold, many since 2013. Thereafter, more business-friendly medium and long term plans can be implemented to revive and support economic growth.
What is your vision on the development of the Ghanaian Economy in 2015?
I think it will be a gradual improvement over what we have seen in 2014, with clients demanding greater value for money and improved responsiveness from their suppliers. Businesses will need to be extra competitive in order to maintain sales and profitability in the face of an uncertain economic outlook and more demanding customers.
