Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Jacob West Ltd, Michael Kyei-Ayensu, has revealed that the devastating 2008 global financial crisis forced him to abandon a UK business and return to Ghana to rebuild from scratch.

Speaking on Personality Profile with Lexis Bill on Joy FM, the Ghanaian entrepreneur recounted how the credit crunch wiped out much of the progress he and his brother had made in the United Kingdom.

UK success derailed by global recession

Mr Kyei-Ayensu, who was a guest on the show on Thursday, February 19, said his UK-based property and financial services business was performing strongly until the global downturn struck.

“Although we were doing very well in the UK… the latter part of 2007, 2008, there was this beast of a credit crunch, like the whole world,” he explained.

According to him, the downturn was swift and brutal, collapsing deal flow almost overnight.

“It was crazy. Like what we were achieving became less than 1% of what we were achieving,” he said.

He noted that while more experienced entrepreneurs had seen similar cycles before, he and his brother were unprepared for the scale of the disruption.

“But for us, we had no clue. We didn't have any idea how we're going to navigate this issue.”

Heavy losses and business collapse

The impact was severe. Mr Kyei-Ayensu disclosed that the crisis forced them to surrender multiple properties and lose significant equity.

“We lost quite a few properties,” he told the programme.

Pressed on the extent of the damage, he added, "Down in terms of losing properties, three to four properties with all equity.”

The operational slowdown was equally dramatic. Weekly business volumes plunged from about 20 transactions to just one.

“Let's say we're doing 20 cases a week. It became one case a week. That's how bad it was,” he revealed.

He attributed the collapse largely to tightening credit conditions in the UK banking sector.

“Literally, banks were pulling financial products from the market, which doesn't allow us to brokerage.”

Decision to return to Ghana

Faced with shrinking opportunities and mounting losses, Mr Kyei-Ayensu said he and his brother made a decisive strategic pivot.

“It was literally from hero to zero. And it was tough. And then from that point on, our minds were like, let's get out of here.”

Their conclusion was clear and immediate: “Let's get out of here. Let's try Ghana. Let's try Ghana.”

The move marked the beginning of what would later become one of Ghana’s emerging indigenous real estate and property advisory brands.

Building Jacob West in Ghana

Since relocating, Mr Kyei-Ayensu has focused on building Jacob West Ltd into a player in Ghana’s real estate brokerage and property services space.

Industry observers note that his return coincided with Ghana’s post-2008 property expansion, driven by urbanisation, diaspora investment and rising demand for formal housing in Accra and other major cities.

Under his leadership, the company has positioned itself around:

• Property brokerage
• Real estate advisory
• Investment support services
• Market intelligence for property buyers

Mr Kyei-Ayensu is widely regarded within Ghana’s property circles as part of a new generation of returnee entrepreneurs who brought diaspora experience back home following the global financial crisis.

Reflecting on the experience, the Jacob West CEO suggested the UK setback ultimately reshaped his entrepreneurial outlook and risk appetite.

The crisis, he implied, forced a strategic rethink about geography, resilience and long-term opportunity, lessons that continue to inform his business philosophy in Ghana’s evolving real estate market.