An exclusive interview with journalist Ameyaw Debrah

Where do I start with Ameyaw Debrah? Well I love his work -for starters; -I admire him [and hope that Ghana appreciates this national treasure], he is an incredible journalist -and a very funny man. I first stumbled across Ameyaw Debrah when I was researching a piece for Ghana Rising. This brother's work was everywhere! YouTube? Check. Facebook? Check. Modern Ghana? Check. africanews.com? Check. And so forth -and so forth. On his myspace page, -Debrah describes himself as' 'West Africa's Number 1 Celebrity Journalist' -and he is soo right. From Ovation International (Ghana) Limited [he was their on-line editor] to Jamati, orijin-ent and of course his own Blog, 'The Jaded Renegade' -he has interviewed everyone from John Legend, Damon Dash, Ozwald Boateng, Jay Z -to Akon. I particularly love the interview he did with the elusive Pearl Amoah [a model I have been trying to track down and interview -forever], and come to think of it, -the piece he did with Amanda Annan for Jamati [it was also an eye opener]. I love his, 'probing but respectful' style, -and even though he has interviewed [or snatched a few seconds here and there] with some of the greats [Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary General), President J.A Kufuor, Rev Jesse Jackson, President Obasanjo etc]- I love his lighter work with artist such as; Dentaa and comedian Kojo -where his personality really shines through. Debrah is a busy bee, -and he is working hard to start his own [entertainment] newspaper -at present, -so we are very please to bring you this insightful interview..............enjoy xx

GR: Hello Ameyaw -how are you?
AD: Hello, I'm doing quite well for someone who is always working on new ideas and news updates. We thank God

GR: What projects are you working on right now?
AD: Currently I am working on a number of interviews with Ghanaian entertainers in the Diaspora with the hope of getting the people back home to know of the amazing achievements some of our brothers and sisters have made out there. Also, I am working on providing more content on Ghana for some African publications such as Arise magazine, BHF magazines etc. In the mist of all these I still have to juggle with keeping my YouTube fresh with exciting interviews, event coverage etc. Oh, not forgetting updating my columns on www.modernghana.com, www,ghanaweb.com, www.jamati.com, www.ghanacelebrities.com as well as my blog, The Jaded Renegade.

Ameyaw Debrah and Samini

Ameyaw Debrah and Damon Dash

GR: Ameyaw can you tell us about your background and how you got into journalism?
AD: I have a Bachelors degree in Publishing Studies from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. While in school, I won the prize for Best Publishing student in my year and as part of that I had the opportunity to do my National Service at Ovation International. This was where I started writing and finding my interest in the entertainment industry. At a point when Ovation was heading towards redundancy, I signed on to the Voices of Africa project where I was given a nokia phone to file video and photo reports on interesting subjects within Accra, Ghana. With this tool, I started exploring more mediums such as YouTube, Facebook etc to tell my story and the stories of other to the rest of the world. And viola, now I can say my name is a household name.

GR: Does journalism pay in Ghana?
AD: In general I would say no based on my experiences at Ovation and from the experiences that my colleagues have gone through.

GR: With all the brain drain going on in Africa -have you been tempted to take your talents abroad?
AD: My dream is that I would be successful to the point that I can travel abroad to cover events, interview people and always come back home to Ghana.

GR: I know that you are working away, -with plans to start your own entertainment newspaper. How's it going?
AD: It has always been my dream to have my own publication, where I would have more control in terms of content and style but I am quickly finding out that this could also be achieved in the cyber/virtual world [i.e. the internet] and I hope to fully exploit that now. The newspaper market is saturated at the moment -and sadly, it isn't all good so I don't want to jump on the band-wagon. I am hoping to have my own website and explore what I can achieve with it and then eventually turn it into a newspaper or magazine with a difference.

GR: Well, we can't wait for your magazine or newspaper -you deserve it. Ameyaw, you are one of the most exciting journalists in Ghana -and you have interviewed some of the greats[ like; Kofi Annan, President J.A Kufuor, Rev Jesse Jackson, President Obasanjo etc]. Who has been your favourite interviewee thus far, -and who would you really, really -love to interview?
AD: Let me use this platform to clear certain misconceptions about the people I have interviewed. I created a profile on MySpace saying that through my work, I have met or interviewed some of the people you mentioned above. In the case of Kofi Annan, I did have the opportunity to do a 5 minute or so interview with him. With the other names it was just a meeting opportunity that presented itself during the Ghana@50 celebrations. Now to the question about my favourite interviewee, hmmm that's a tough one! There have been several great interviews but I would try to name a few. I loved my interview with Ade Bantu because he was so deep and interesting with every answer he gave me. I asked him of his origin and he said he is NiGerman (half Nigerian, half German), I will never forget that. Jon Germain was also interesting and perhaps since he has been around the business for long, he knew what to say and how to say it. Kojo the Comedian was another great interviewee perhaps because he is a funny guy and I am a sucker for jokes. As for the people I would want to interview the list is endless, -right on top of that was Michael jackson but of course that is now a real unreality for me with his passing. Obama is the man of the moment and it wouldn't hurt at all getting an exclusive with him [God knows I tried when he was recently in Ghana]. There is also Kanye West; Beyonce -and back home, I would love to meet the maestro, Kojo Antwi.

GR: You are based in Accra. Can you tell us about some of your favourite hot spots in Accra [ I am planning to touch down very soon]?
AD: In general, the hottest district is still Osu. You will find almost anything there. The hottest area now [hands on] would be the Accra Mall, although it can get crowded, you will never have a dull moment when you pass through.

The Sony Centre -Accra Mall - http://www.accramall.com/

GR: Sally Kanbonaba Kleyn or Confidence Haugen?
AD: From a far I see the famous Confidence 'boob job' and I guess I'm sort of keen on proving that it isnt real. Sally is almost scary, and I don't have a strong liver although I like to speak my mind. Not much to choose between the two but I would go for Confidence

GR: The best restaurant in Accra is?
AD: The Tulip experience is Golden for me [lovely starters, first course to dessert]. Maybe I enjoy their food so much because each time I ate there, I didn't have to pay

The Golden Tulip gets Ameyaw's vote as the best restaurant in Accra -http://www.goldentulipaccra.com/

GR: The best hotel in Accra is?
AD: The La Palm experience is still royal
The La Palm triumphs as the best hotel for Ameyaw Debrah - www.gbhghana.com/lapalm.html

GR: The best nightclub in Accra is?
AD: I am not much of a clubber but as someone who monitors the entertainment scene, I think Aphrodisiac offers a lot more than most others.
Aphrodisiac -one of Accra's finest nightclubs -http://www.clubaphro.com/

GR: Accra is buzzing right now. Where can one go in the capital to chill out?
AD: Osu is still hot, you can go there to grab some food with your Friends and loved ones; hop from one club to the other, and go home completely 'wasted' or satisfied. If you want a more relaxed setting, you can do the Accra Mall. Citizen Kofi in Osu is also making waves and so is Mirage Nightclub.

GR: You was at GFW [Ghana Fashion Week]. Which shows did you see ....and who is the next hot Ghanaian designer?
AD: Yeah I was there on the first, third and fourth days and I saw some amazing stuff. Although there weren't that many designs for guys -a lot of the Ghanaian designers showed potential. I was particularly impressed for the first time by the collection of House of Eccentrics. His stuff were cool. Salimi Akil also showed great potential so lets keep our fingers crossed for Ghana.

GR: Who is hot right now [in Ghana]?
AD: There are amazing things happening on the Ghanaian entertainment front that gives hope to many of us [that want to see it grow from strength to strength]. Currently, acts like Ayigbe Edem, Asem, Richie, Sarkodie, Bradez and R2bees are hot on the music scene. There are also some up and coming acts enjoying massive following and they include Yaa Pono, Chase, Shaker, Eassy, FOI and many others. In terms of film, Lydia Forson is turning heads.

GR: On to more serious things Ameyaw, -there are so many issues effecting Ghana [and the rest of Africa] -what really gets your goat?
AD: For me it has to be poverty because it is central to all the woes facing Ghana and the rest of Africa. People put their children in labour because they want to make some money to survive, people are unable to put their wards in school because there is no money and people live in unhealthy conditions because often they lack money for general hygiene and access to quality healthcare. And of course you throw in a bit of bad governance, and the situations is worsened.

GR: The dump site in Agbogbloshie really gets my goat, -how does the ordinary Ghanaian feel about it?
AD: Generally we all hate it, even if not for the health implications it has on the people, at least the stench would put any one off.

GR: How is President John Atta Mills doing?
AD: Tricky question but my answer is simply....so far he hasn't stood out for me. I think I saw Kufuor achieve more over the same period that Mills has been in office. Or perhaps Kufuor was just more visible than Mills is currently. Nonetheless, I haven't given up completely on Mills, -I think he is a slow starter. But in the mean time, I would like to see more improvement in the economy because life is 'simply' hard in Ghana at the moment.

GR: What did the visit by President Obama and his family to Ghana -mean to you?
AD: Personally, it made me proud to be Ghanaian. Professionally, it would have done my career a whole lot of good -if I could interview him or at least meet. In general I think it put Ghana further on the map, -and with this, would come more opportunities in investment, health delivery etc.

GR: And finally Amyew, -what are your hopes and dreams for Ghana?
AD: I want to see Ghana succeed in everything we do; in terms of politics, economy, development, entertainment etc. We should be a unique pride of Africa.

GR: I love your work and appreciate what you are doing. Keep it up. God Bless all your dreams..........
AD: Thank you very much. And you keep up with your great works as well.

You can follow Ameyaw Debrah on Twitters at:http://twitter.com/ameyaw112
For 'The Jaded Renegade' Blog by Ameyaw Debrah please visit: http://ameyawdebrah.blogspot.com/

Noticeboard: Do you live in Accra or NYC?

Do you live in Accra or New York? Are you passionate about Ghana [ its people, its Movers & Shakers, its politics, its celebrities etc]? Are you interested in popular culture? Do you have access to successful Ghanaians in your city? Do you know how to research -and work to deadlines? Do you have the motivation to contribute to Ghana Rising, -as and when [yummy news involving the Ghanaian Glitterati -breaks in your city]? I am looking for two contributors; one based in Ghana [preferably Accra] and another based in the States [preferably NYC] - to contribute to Ghana Rising. If you are motivated, passionate about Ghana, can work to deadlines, have a good understanding of the English language, -and love fashion; beauty, lifestyle, popular culture, Ghanaian celebrities, -and are interested in writing for Ghana Rising; -please email me at: paulina_448@hotmail.com or nanaaba69@hotmail.co.uk Thanks Paulina xx

Beauty: ADIEL Online Cosmetic Store

I was handed a trendy looking flyer about an online beauty store called ADIEL by a group of beautiful sisters at Ghana in the Park [last weekend] -and I was sooo excited, -because as you know [by now] -I love business [especially ones founded by my fellow Ghanaian and African sisters] and trying out new beauty products. Well, I was not disappointed! Founded by Bridget Addow, - ADIEL online cosmetic store is a treasure trove of pampering, beauty products [comprising; Fragrances, Beauty Products, Pamper Time, Men, Kids Corner Body & Bath, gifts and special offers like; Grab A Bargain, Buy 1 Get 1 Free -and much, much more].

ADIEL online offers a stunning array of goodies like; Jasper Conran Man gift set -for the lucky man in your life (£31.00), -and an old favourite of mine; 'Gres Cabotine' [EDT 30ml] (£21.00) - a yummy fruity perfume. I am also loving this 'on trend' Elizabeth Arden Trio Eyeshadow (only £2.00) from their 'Grab A Bargain' section -and L'Oreal Paris Visibly Clean Scrub (only £5.18 for two) from their 'Buy 1 Get 1 Free' categorie. For more information, gift ideas or to order please visit: www.adielonline.com

P.s Keep an eye on the ADIEL online website -as they are about to launch a concession in Bluewater. I will also keep you posted...x

Music: Tinchy Stryder and Kano performing 'Stryderman remix Live on Manny Norte's show on KISS FM

Loving it...............x

Business: Hermann Chinnery-Hesse (Founder of SOFTtribe)

"Africans don't need to beg, we need to participate in the global economy." Hermann Chinnery-Hesse

"Technology is the only way for Africa to get rich. We don't have proper infrastructure and we can't compete in manufacturing. But if you put me behind a PC and tell me to write software for a Chinese customer, then I can compete brain for brain with anyone trying to do the same thing in the US." Hermann Chinnery-Hesse

"Our mission is to provide Tropically Tolerant software solutions to the West African market. We are committed to ensuring that we are responsive to rapidly changing Information Technology and to changes in our clients’ environments." Softtribe.com


I happily stumbled across an exciting piece about Hermann Chinnery-Hesse written by By Briony Hale [BBC News Online business reporter, Accra, Ghana], dated Tuesday, 3 June, 2003 and entitled: 'Ghana trumps mighty Microsoft' -and just had to google Hermann Chinnery-Hesse. And I am very pleased that I did. What an inspirational man!

Hermann Chinnery-Hesse is a 'tour de force'. Touted as the Bill Gates of Ghana -this power house -and a self-described “geek and gangster”, -Chinnery-Hesse has an excellent track record. Often called the “Father of the African Software Industry”, in 1991 he co-founded theSOFTtribe - the largest and most successful software company in Africa. Anyway, I found a very interesting piece by Max Chafkin [for Inc.] entitled: 'Meet the Bill Gates of Ghana' -and the following is an insightful and well written piece about Hermann; -the 'trials and tribulations' of doing business in Ghana, -and the many opportunities that modern Ghana offers modern businesses:

Brash, ambitious, and optimistic, Herman Chinery-Hesse has already accomplished what many considered impossible -- building a thriving tech business in his native Ghana. His new goal: to spark an entrepreneurial revolution in Africa by bringing e-commerce to the most remote corners of the continent.
By Max Chafkin | Oct 1, 2008
It's just past midnight, and Herman Chinery-Hesse can't sleep. The 43-year-old entrepreneur is lying on his back, eyes closed, mind cranking.
He's working through the details of a pitch to American and European investors -- many of whom have never backed a company like the one he's proposing. The pitch is absurdly ambitious: a tech company that aims to reshape the business climate for small entrepreneurs in Africa while grabbing a share of the $28 billion that Africans living abroad send home every year. His start-up is a long shot, will cost millions of dollars to execute, and could take five years to get off the ground. In other words, it's not the kind of thing you would expect from a company based in West Africa, a place known for many things -- malaria, civil wars, famine -- but definitely not disruptive technology companies.
But Chinery-Hesse thrives on just this sort of contradiction. He's a technology entrepreneur on a technologically barren continent, an atheist in a deeply religious country, and a capitalist raised amid the excesses of socialism. He also loves an uphill battle -- and this particular battle is just too intriguing to pass up.
I know this because I'm lying in bed next to him. I had come to Accra, the capital of Ghana, to understand what African entrepreneurship looks like, and I had sought out Chinery-Hesse in particular to answer this question: Who in his right mind would sell software in Africa? I had been following him around for a week, a frenetic experience that typically began each day in the late morning and lasted until midnight. I observed Chinery-Hesse make hundreds of phone calls, send thousands of text messages, and smoke a carton of Benson & Hedges cigarettes. And now, I was cowering close to the edge of a king-size bed around midnight, reluctantly conducting an interview.
This is not as weird as it sounds. Business in Africa is much more informal than in the United States. Meetings are not typically pegged to a specific time, and lateness -- even several hours' worth of lateness -- is not considered worthy of reproach. And then there are the sleeping arrangements. In Africa, it is not uncommon for two people of the same sex, when pressed for space, to platonically bunk up. This point had been mentioned to me several days earlier, but it acquired a terrifying immediacy when the tiny hotel where we had intended to stay was booked, and a friend of Chinery-Hesse's offered to let us stay at his place.
Chinery-Hesse is an imposing man. He stands 6 feet tall, has a Tony Soprano -- size gut, and possesses a salesman's mannerisms, including a blistering laugh and a fondness for crass language that belies his upper-crust background. Most of the time, his clap-you-on-the-shoulder pose is endearing. But his size and tendency toward overfamiliarity make him a less than ideal companion in situations -- a bed, say -- in which personal space is scarce.
Still, it's a big bed, and I figure I can simply turn on my side, avoid eye contact, and fall asleep quickly. Chinery-Hesse will have none of it. "We can still chat," he says matter of factly from the other side. "You can still ask me questions."
When you come to Africa, take everything you know about Europe or America and turn it upside down." This advice, given to me by a Ghanaian entrepreneur named Kingsley Awuah-Darko, was meant not as preparation for unfamiliar mores but as a key to understanding business on the African continent. Judge a company in Accra by the standards you would apply to one in Akron, and you're likely to form mistaken impressions and miss opportunities.
Most people consider opportunities and Africa to be mutually exclusive concepts. We have come to see Africa as more a cause than a place and its population not as a market but a class of victims. Of the 20 cover images of Vanity Fair's Africa Issue, published last year, not a single portrait featured someone who owned a business based in Africa. And although the issue's guest editor, the Nobel Prize -- nominated pop star Bono, lauded Africa as an "entrepreneurial, dynamic continent," the casual reader might have been tempted to ask, Who are these entrepreneurs, exactly?
Ghana is a small country in one of the poorest parts of the sub-Saharan region, but it's also a hotbed of technology entrepreneurship thanks largely to the pioneering work of Chinery-Hesse. Today, Accra boasts dozens of tech companies and one of the largest Internet cafés in Africa. Chinery-Hesse was an early investor in the Internet café, which also serves as an incubator that rents space to start-ups. He went on to found what is widely considered the first and largest software company in the country, called theSOFTtribe, where he serves as executive chairman and controlling shareholder. Chinery-Hesse has also left a wider mark on the country's tech sector. Many former SOFTtribe engineers have gone on to start other software companies, including the second largest in the country.
These accomplishments have earned him a moniker at once homespun and grandiose: "the Bill Gates of Ghana." They have also landed him speaking engagements at Harvard, Wharton, and Cambridge. Last summer, he shared a stage with Bono and Jane Goodall at the TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania. "Herman is the godfather of the software industry, not just in Ghana but in all of Africa," says Eric Osiakwan, a Ghanaian journalist and IT consultant. At its height in 2003, SOFTtribe employed 80 people, mostly programmers, and was booking well over $1 million a year in revenue -- a substantial sum in a country in which a three-bedroom house costs $20,000.
It's hard to imagine the founding of a software company as a revolutionary act, but in 1991 in Ghana, it was. Not only were there no technology entrepreneurs to speak of, but the idea of entrepreneurship as a path to wealth was a novelty. Ghana had suffered for decades under repressive governments that were outwardly hostile to private enterprise. From 1970 to 1990, the country's gross domestic product fell at an annual rate of 2.1 percent. Some of the most successful companies were nationalized, price controls were instituted, and owning many kinds of property, such as a car with air conditioning, was considered an indulgence that risked the wrath of authorities. Entrepreneurs accused of breaking the rules had to surrender their property and financial assets to the military government. If they resisted, they were often beaten and sometimes killed.
Democracy -- along with peace, stability, and a measure of prosperity -- has since come to Ghana. But it is still a hard place in which to be an entrepreneur. As a market, Ghana seems hopelessly inconsequential: just 23 million people, with a per capita income of $676 a year. Nutrition is often poor, and health care is spotty. The average person has a 1 in 10 chance of dying before he or she reaches age 5, and life expectancy is just 60 years. The country's business climate, in which an entrepreneur can expect to spend 220 days just to get the proper business licenses to build a warehouse, remains stubbornly anemic. Interest rates are prohibitively high at 25 percent. The 18 percent inflation rate, while down from 30 percent five years ago, is high by global standards. According to the World Bank, Ghana is one of the most difficult places in the world in which to start a business, ranking 138th -- after Venezuela, Serbia, and Iran.
These facts paint a bleak picture. Yet there's no shortage of evidence to suggest that despite all its problems, Ghana is brimming with opportunity. GDP grew 6 percent in 2007, and in the first six months of 2008 the value of companies listed on the country's stock exchange grew 56 percent. One important factor fueling growth is the explosion of mobile phone use throughout the continent. Ghana alone added 2.7 million cell phone subscribers last year. The rapid spread of cell phone service has made it much easier to conduct business and has prompted some investors to take a fresh look at the African market.
Even so, the West tends to see only tragedy in countries like Ghana. "In the U.S. media, Africa is a place where people are dying and starving, and where there are no opportunities," says Vijay Mahajan, a professor at the University of Texas and the author, most recently, of Africa Rising. In the book, Mahajan argues that Western entrepreneurs are ignoring the next big global market at their peril. He points out that in Africa, for instance, GDP per capita is $200 higher than in India. "I'm not saying Africa doesn't have problems -- all developing countries have problems," he says. "But the opportunity in Africa is at least as great as the opportunities in China and India."
We're going to turn Ghana into Singapore in five years," says Chinery-Hesse the first time I reach him by phone from New York. It's 6 o'clock in the evening in New York -- 11 at night in Accra -- and Chinery-Hesse is still in the office, supervising a late-night coding session. His voice cracks through a bad cell phone connection but betrays an unmistakable level of pride. "This is the Holy Grail. Everybody is going to be rich."
His new company, which is separate from SOFTtribe, is called BSL and draws inspiration from Amazon.com and PayPal. When BSL launches this fall, it will let African entrepreneurs easily sell their products online and accept payments via mobile phone. Such transactions are extremely difficult in a country in which computers are rare and in which PayPal doesn't operate. If Chinery-Hesse can sign up enough merchants and get enough people making payments with the service, he could drastically improve the lives of African craftspeople by giving them access to global markets. "This system is going to allow someone living in a village who makes 20 sweaters a week to export them at $10 a sweater," he says. "That's $200 a week!" It also promises to put Chinery-Hesse at the center of African commerce and make him exceedingly rich.
Not that he needs the money. Chinery-Hesse is an elite's elite whose mother serves as chief adviser to Ghana's head of state. He has three servants, a driver, and two SUVs, and he lives with his wife and two children in a comfortable ranch house in a gated community. At one point, he owned seven cars and two nightclubs. As a boy, he bounced between Accra and wherever his parents, both career diplomats, were posted, including Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Switzerland. He attended Ghana's prestigious Mfantsipim School -- Kofi Annan's alma mater -- where his friends recall him as brilliant, outspoken, and academically lazy. Like many privileged young Ghanaians, he left the country to attend college; he studied industrial technology at Texas State University in San Marcos.
In Texas, Chinery-Hesse was an outsider: an African who had little in common with the black Americans on campus but who was mockingly called "nigger" by his white friends. He shrugged off the taunts as innocent "teasing" but never felt entirely comfortable. "America is the most racist place I've ever been," he says, admitting that he often felt afraid to talk to strangers or to police. But he was also captivated by the place. "I saw open spaces where there was nothing but cows, and then four years later, it's a whole community." Everyone he knew seemed to own a ranch, and the pace of development was preternatural, with 7-Elevens and McMansions blooming spontaneously from wide-open farmland. He remembers this period as the time of his entrepreneurial conversion -- when he first understood how business might change an impoverished country. "Every aspect of underdevelopment requires a business," he says. "I realized that the opportunities were everywhere."
He returned to Accra for Christmas in 1990 and announced to his friends that he was coming home for good. The group had been partying at an Accra dance club, and Chinery-Hesse's friends responded with incredulity. They were thinking about how to get out of Ghana, not back in, and they had been badgering him all night for help in getting jobs abroad. (At the time, his mother was working as a U.N. official in Geneva.) "You guys are crazy," Chinery-Hesse responded. "The opportunities are right here."
Chinery-Hesse talked his way into a contract job with Accra's largest travel agency, whose owner was a distant relation. He was paid $2,000 to write a software program that automated the company's accounting and customer service functions. The program, which Chinery-Hesse called Gbefaloh, meaning "traveler" in Ga, his mother tongue, would eventually be adopted by travel agents throughout the country.

Please read the rest of this article at: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20081001/meet-the-bill-gates-of-ghana.html[Read from page 3]

Culture: Kwame Nkrumah's Blue Plaque in Camden

'Blue plaques celebrate great figures of the past and the buildings that they inhabited. They open a window into another time by showing us where the great and the good have penned their masterpieces, developed new technologies, lived or died. Actors, authors, politicians, painters, scientists, sportsmen, campaigners and reformers – people from different countries, cultures and backgrounds – have all been commemorated in this way.' www.english-heritage.org.uk

Why not visit Kwame Nkrumah's blue plaque -when in Camden, and see where our first ever president lived between 1945-1947. The address is 60 Burghley Road, Camden, NW5
For more information concerning blue plaques please visit: www.english-heritage.org.uk