14 June 2018
Last year, First Names Group partnered with The Baobab Network, an innovative charitable organisation offering corporate businesses unique talent development opportunities through working with start-up businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa to drive growth, innovation and investment in the region.
Our first participant was Joanne McEnteggart, managing director of our Irish business, who spent a rewarding two weeks in Ghana last November for the Women Entrepreneurs programme. Here, we have quizzed Joanne on her experience.
When you heard about the Baobab Network and the opportunity to offer your expertise, what was your first reaction?
My first feelings were of massive excitement. I couldn’t believe such an opportunity was available with First Names Group. I was eager to experience a completely different culture and be able to use the skills that I have to help someone build their business. It sounded amazing and I immediately thought, “I really want to do this.”
How much preparation did you do before you went?
In advance of the trip there were a number of calls with the Baobab Network team, to introduce the programme and explain what it’s about. We also discussed what they were hoping to achieve with our visit and what the entrepreneurs hoped to gain from our support. After each call, I had more thoughts on how to better prepare for the programme; they were great for getting my head together.
The run-up to the trip was a very busy time for me. I travelled to Singapore on business, then attended the Airline Economics conference in Hong Kong, and then spent a few days in Tokyo as well. I had to do a bit of juggling to fit it all in! I also had to get some jabs – not so fun – but the doctor thought it was hilarious that I was going to all of these countries at the same time.
In addition, I really didn’t know anything about Ghana but wanted to find out what there is to see there, what the country is famous for, and understand its history and culture. I also wanted to know more about Ghana’s economic status and where the country makes its money from. So I did a bit of googling (as you do!), and my new knowledge made me even more excited.
Tell us a bit about the company and people you were there to support.
I worked with a pair of co-founders. The lady, Tabitha, was actually from Kenya, and the gentleman, Amanze, was from Nigeria. They had met each other through an entrepreneur programme in Ghana, which saw them develop a concept to turn into a business.
They’d designed a farm management app, allowing farmers to account for all farm activity, including production levels, labour usage, daily expenditure, and so on. The app provides complete oversight and detailed records on a mobile device.
My fellow consultant and I were introduced to Tabby and Amanze on day one and they explained and demonstrated the app. We already had some knowledge of it from the briefing calls, but it was great to see the founders talking about it themselves. They also explained their strategy for growing the business. They had a clear vision for the app and who they wanted to use it.
How did the two weeks progress and what were the tangible outcomes?
Upfront, I was like, right, what would you like us to do and what are the key things you’re looking to get out of these two weeks? Let’s get everything down on paper today so we can focus our efforts and by the end of the experience have made real, useful progress. This resulted in the identification of a number of key goals: to help win more funding, work out a realistic pricing structure, and outline what needs to be achieved within the next six to 12 months in order to make the app a success.
The one big problem I saw with the concept was that they had no one using the app and no one interested in it. Local farmers really don’t have the money to spend on smartphone applications. So, by day two, I had researched the Ghanaian farming sector, the key crops, the major famers, which third party companies are investing heavily in Ghana, what crops are they interested in, etc. I produced a little ‘cheat list’ for us to discuss the next day. This proved immensely useful.
What we ended up doing was turning the whole idea on its head. The farmers can’t pay, but who can? We set up a meeting with a chief adviser from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. We wanted to talk to him about rice, since my research told me that rice was the latest ‘thing’ and supported by the government. We therefore needed to make sure the app works for rice farmers.
We had been told we would only have 20 minutes with the minister, but three hours later (!) we left the department with everything we needed to know. We had found out who the main players in rice are, the quantity of rice production in Ghana, who is buying Ghana’s rice, who is distributing it, and who the key farmers are. He also gave us a list of targets to work on in order to set up 15 or so meetings for the coming weeks.
One of our later meetings was with the chief executive of a rice distribution company. Our goal was to convince him that he should be paying for this app as it would give him everything he needs to know about future production and yields. By the end of the meeting, he was convinced!
All in all, by the end of the two-week programme, we had delivered an investor slide deck to help secure funding, a financial model and sets of six- and 12-month objectives. We also created a marketing pack to help explain what the app does, introduce Tabby and Amanze and provide visuals – making sure they are well-armed for future meetings.
What did you take away from the experience?
Look, I’ll admit I was completely outside of my comfort zone in Ghana. I’ve worked my entire career in Ireland and have been very lucky to have travelled a lot on business, but mostly I’ve visited western places that are very well developed. I’ve never been anywhere that I’ve seen such abject poverty.
During the fortnight we visited shanty towns and met with 150 orphans. It was all eye-opening. We have our issues in Ireland with homelessness and varying levels of poverty, but these people live in huts and squalor – and they still had smiles on their faces.
I was just blown away by their generosity of spirit, by their willingness to do anything for you, and their willingness to learn from whatever you had to offer them.
My personal objective with this experience was to feel like I had genuinely helped the entrepreneurs, and for them to feel this too. That’s what really kept me energised throughout the programme – knowing I was working to really make a difference to someone else’s life.
I think the main thing I took away was seeing the value of hard work. We had a mountain to climb, I wasn’t sure where we’d end up, but we delivered on what we said we were going to achieve. That meant long days and working through the night, but it was so worth it. Tabby even cried on the last day. She gave me a big hug – and a present! – and told me how much value she saw in the work we had done together, how much it meant to her.
It was a truly humbling experience, having someone so appreciate your help. Those two weeks in Ghana were like nothing I’ve ever experienced and I am so pleased and proud to have had the opportunity to make an impact.
