True Story: Three Young Ghanaian Men On Starting Out Early

There are a lot of dispiriting factors that inhibits young people in Ghana to take up initiatives and be responsible for their lives.

Even at age 18 most, most Ghanaian parents would hold on to young adults like a baby and wouldn’t encourage them nor support any idea of entrepreneurship.

They would usually encourage them to focus on their studies - go to the university and grab a white colour job.

However, young people who break from the normal scheme (University to white collar jobs) to pursue their ambition often emerge victorious.

For Christian Terkpetey, a 24-year-old man, it wasn’t about his parents, he really needed to survive so during Senior High School, he had to start selling phone credits to support his education and family. Gaining roots, he started a small shop as a mobile money vendor and moved to have two additional shops which currently fetches him between Ghc3000 and Ghc 3,500 monthly. Although, he has still not been to the university, he is able to live comfortably and habours hopes of becoming a doctor one day. At his age he is the bread winner of his family.

Miguel Edem Kyei wanted to be his own man and at age 17 so he decided to open a bank account but was rejected because his age disqualified him. At 19, he moved out of his parent’s house to start a new life with the motivation to be a better version of his dad.

“I had the belief that whatever my father had is not mine so I have to create my own life. Now I’m 25 moving to 26 and I have got my goals all set before me despite some challenges I went through. Life can even begin at 18 only if you are disciplined and determined.

Miguel was a shop attended for some time and was later made the manager of the whole business.

Although, he has not yet been to the university, he is catering for the education of his two sisters. He has rented an apartment, have an investment running for him and is married

Frankie Norman shared what partly reveals his story when he was much younger. His took a different direction.

“During the last quarter of 2009, I had more than $24K at my disposal and did not know what to do with it. I upgraded from living in a shack in the slums to living in a block room apartment. I bought fine clothes and shoes and all the things I didn’t have. I ate good food,” he said in a Facebook post.

Simply, he wasted the money on basic things without investing in a house or a car. By 2012, all the money was gone and he found himself with a boring job and small salary. A lot of business ideas running through his mind now but no money for investment.