Executive Chairman, Celltel Networks Ltd., and former President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Dr. Prince Kofi Kludjeson says the majority of technological equipment in Ghana came through him.
Speaking in an interview on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning, the businessman revealed that he became the first Ghanaian young man to be employed by the Ghana-based American telecommunications company.
Due to that, he got in contact with some international companies within the telecom industry and was able to capture the attention of brands, including AT&T, in Africa, particularly Ghana.
"… I began hustling and selling until I had a breakthrough at the then Post and Telecommunications. I’ve been going there, and one day I was told that the manager, one Mr. Peter Debrah, wanted to see me. I went, and after a long talk, he got interested in me. I said OK. So, he called the accountant, and they bought the first calculators from me, and they ordered something else. So, I became a businessman in Ghana."
"Eventually, the thing was going on, and many people worked fast in the company, and they went from manual typewriters to digital typewriters. I tried engaging people, and we were doing well, competing with the foreign companies. So many of the brands became interested in what I was doing. So many of the major things in Ghana’s technology came through me. Whether it was HP or AT&T. So, we finally brought AT&T to Ghana," he told Roselyn Felli on Wednesday.
AT&T initially had no interest in expanding to any African nation, but Dr. Kludjeson said he was able to successfully convince the management and was the first to introduce the brand to Ghana.
Following the introduction of AT&T, the business enthusiast continued with his business activities where he met a former AT&T official who was the chairman of HP.
This granted him the opportunity to be the first once again to initiate HP into Ghana under the late President Jerry John Rawlings’ regime.
Ambitious and visionary as he was, Dr. Kludjeson was able to bring together some government and opinion leaders to support his international telecoms partnerships, which contributed to the transformation in Ghana’s telecommunications sector.
Despite his recognitions and efforts in some international countries, Ghanaian leaders belittled him. He was detained for seeking to promote the highly profitable telecom industry.
This makes him conclude that Ghana's challenges stem from young people being hindered from exploring their potential and aspirations.
"Ghana’s biggest problem till today is not a problem. We need to accept where we are and allow the young generation to move on," he urged.
Dr. Kludjeson thinks the only access to success in Ghana is through politics.
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