In 2011, a few of us were working out of Busy Internet, convinced we were building Ghana’s next big e-commerce platform. We called it Launchpad. The name was already taken, so we became Nsano — a name we worried was too local for our global ambitions. What we didn’t know was that the detours ahead would matter far more than the plans we had on paper. One such detour came through a friend from my eTranzact days. He had an idea: a USSD sales-tracking tool that would let salespe

I was angry and heartbroken. The $80,000 had already gone into paying debts, salary arrears, and initial costs. And it wasn't just about money. It was about respect and honouring agreements. John Addo, Head of Corporate (later MD) and Mary Brown, the DMD, advised me not to walk away. "You've come too far," John said. I slept on it, went back to the MD, and accepted his terms. His response was curt: "Good, good, let's continue." No gratitude. No acknowledgment. Just business.

Nsano cut its teeth building mobile banking and ancillary solutions for financial institutions. We had a standard "Money Merchant" proposal we shopped around. The price? 12,000 cedis flat. After some success deploying for Adehyeman and Opportunity International Savings and Loans, we set our sights higher and approached Prudential Bank (PBL) in 2014. Our team was directed to Frank Ankamah, Head of e-Business, who glanced through the proposal, laughed and asked who the CEO was.

We had a Big Hairy Audacious Goal. To some, it was daring and inspiring. To others, just naive optimism. The goal? To be the single point of access for mobile money platforms across Ghana. By 2014, Nsano needed to scale its technical capabilities. Banks wanted to connect to mobile money. Mobile money operators needed integration partners they could trust. I knew we needed someone with deep mobile money experience to join as our technical co-founder. I found what seemed like t

"My name is Kofi, and I'm here to see the Head of Mobile Money." That single sentence began what turned into an almost 7-hour wait at MTN. I woke up that day with one goal: make a connection at MTN Mobile Money. No appointment, no name – just sheer determination. It was a roller coaster of emotions watching others get ushered into meetings, and the day waning away. Around 3PM, a business executive, let’s call him CO, came and led me into a meeting room. I explained that Nsano

The things that fundamentally shape us rarely announce themselves. For me, it started with a prepaid card. Not a big launch or glossy campaign - just a few eTranzact reps handing out prepaid cards on the GIJ campus. I took one, slipped it into my wallet, and there it sat, forgotten until it was time.  That time came in 2008 while running P1 Communications, an events and marketing company. I was desperately scraping together sponsorships for “Mo ne yo” (which means well done )