BOOK REVIEW: 'AHEAD OF THE GAME: Afare Donkor And Ghana's Financial Renaissance'

Extracted from a delivery by Kwaku Sakyi-Addo at the Book Launch on Thursday, November 12, 2015 – British Council, Accra

Who is Afare Donkor? Where has he come from? What drives him? What drove those who birthed him? And how have what drove them, driven him? Is it money? Or fame? Or politics? Or mischief? Or excellence? Or truth? Or faith? Or is he just a man in good threads and polished shoes?

The author of this book is Ebenezer Amankwah, a young corporate communications Manager (at Vodafone Ghana) and former business journalist; a restless task-juggler and, himself, driven.

The title of the book - is 'AHEAD OF THE GAME' which speaks to foresight: seeing 'IT' before it reveals to others; securing the trophy before the marbles are even unpacked.

'…Afare Donkor and Ghana's Financial Rennaissance,' is a commentary on the nation's financial sector's Re-birth; PROPER financial engineering at a strategic, long-term impacting-level; not the artisanal, street-hustler variety preferred by petty loan touts.

It is 230 pages of tidy, orderly text. It's a beautiful story; hard-bound; wrapped, leather-like, in somber, reflective hues; uncluttered in design. Deep. Rich. Civilised.

The Key words are: Reflective. Orderly. Uncluttered. Design. Rich. Deep. Civilised…. These are words that anyone who knows Afare Donkor, the subject of this book, will associate with him. And so he is the book and the book is he.

Therefore the story begins from the beginning with him:

'Afare Apeadu Donkor was born in the 1940s. A very charismatic and fascinating character. Blessed with a commanding presence with very piercing eyes.'

'…When he speaks, the deep baritone voice gives the unmistakable impression of a man used to wielding power and authority. When he moves, it is with the grace that only men in absolute control can portray.'

The author contextualizes Afare Donkor's early years with the political environment in the Gold Coast at the time; the rising political consciousness and yearning for freedom. And this is, in fact, a feature that runs through all the nine chapters of the book. The author consistently develops a vivid backdrop — a canvas — upon which the dramatic and colourful events of Afare Donkor's life unfolds.

Afare Donkor was named after his grandfather - Afare Kwabena Donkor – who came from Aburi Akuapem. But the author was quick to connect his key personality trait to that of his great-grandfather -Nana Obeng Antiri. This great-grandfather had a nickname: 'Odompe.' And he used to say of himself, ''Odompe, me da w'anum kwa. Wo we'a enye yie.' In English - 'I'm like a bone; tough to crack.' This is a theme that recurs remarkably in Afare Donkor's life as captured by the author.

For example, he was compelled to leave Prempeh College after just one year owing to a misfortune in his family, to enroll at Konongo-Odumase Secondary School. (Nothing wrong with KOSS but……s3be mp3n aduasa, ebi ky3n bi). The setback didn't dim or snuff the embers inside of him. He worked hard enough to qualify to return to Prempeh for sixth form.

Similarly, when he went to the University of Ghana in 1985, admitted to study Economics, the class was told at orientation that there was room only for those who studied Additional Mathematics, which he hadn't. They had one week to study Calculus and take a test to determine who got in, and who got out. The department accepted only 15 of 50 candidates.  Afare Donkor was one of them.

His mates at Legon included the likes of Akufo-Addo and Kwadwo Afari-Djan; and among the lecturers were Kofi Abrefa Busia and Dr. G.K. Agama who became Afare Donkor's mentor; yet by a twist of circumstances captured in great detail by the author, metamorphosed into his nemesis when he became Governor of the Bank of Ghana and a key player in the most dramatic sub-plots in this book.

The author also recounts how he got his first job on account of his polished shoes, because the interviewer had been an ex-military officer who believed that a man's shoes summed him up.

Years later and further up the corporate ladder, the story is told of the circumstances leading to the establishment of Ghana's first discount House (CDH) by Afare Donkor; a major breakthrough for him and for Ghana's financial sector. It was a happy conspiracy of not totally happy events: one, an unexpected corporate decision against him by his employer; two, a chance participation in a Bankers' Association meeting and, three, a forgotten stint he did some years earlier in Zimbabwe. It's a chapter that makes riveting reading of the episodes that was to change the face of banking in the country.

And there's more….more as he established additional groundbreaking financial intermediation institutions, including Ghana Leasing Company and CAL Bank, originally called Continental Acceptances Limited.

The series of boardroom drama, litigation, political power-play in the shadows, the fast fancy cars, the blood and shards of shattered glass in the near-death road carnage on the motorway, the betrayals…. and the triumphs… deserve to be read at your own pace with your feet up and a tall glass by your side, rather than hastily recounted to you in this review. And there's a lot of Rawlings in this bit of the story too…(wink wink!).

Above all, the author does a skillful job in recounting colourfully the events of that Thursday June 5, 2008 Emergency General Meeting of CAL Bank.

Venue: Osu Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Hall, where a tumultuous, yet seminal corporate governance event took place - a combination of legal and corporate salvos and rebuttals, catcalls and responses, boos and whispers - checks and check-mates – ending in a warm embrace by the key protagonists. It's all told in 'graphicolor' in Chapter 7.

Talking about 'graphicolor', I must comment on the excellent use of pictures in the book.  My favourites are those of a strapping Odompe, showing off his broad chest, and that of Afari Donkor's paternal grandfather; dressed to kill in a three-piece affair with striped trousers and a top-hat, and cigar locked between his fingers.

Now we know from where Afare Donkor's sartorial tastes originate.  It's not learnt.  It is, in fact, genetic.

Another device that the author employs to my delight is clever quotes from historical figures with which he opens each chapter ……

Although this is a biographical work, it's also a discussion of the 'agency problem' in corporate governance. It offers lessons for corporate institutions and their key stakeholders - from boards to small shareholders. Should institutional investors be limited in terms of their share ownership of companies?  Should management be tied down to a contract that forces them to maximize shareholder interest first and foremost in every key decision?  The book explores these questions and leaves the responses open to readers to provide.

Ultimately, it's a story told in a lively fashion of a pioneering banker, a path-finder, a path-clearing (oyiakwan) kind of banker.

It's a tribute to A thinker.  A leader.  A father, husband, family man.

…And a fighter.  A fighter in good threads.
And polished shoes.
AUTHOR: Ebenezer Amankwah