Success Stories

Empower Academy

In 1962, E.O. Amponsah and his wife Mary Amponsah founded a school in the Kwahu Region of Ghana called IBT School.  Their lifetime of care and attention to this school has educated thousands of children and has developed a solid reputation for IBT.  In a country where enrolling in high school is a major challenge for most families, IBT has a long track record of preparing students for the exam to qualify for further education. 

Today, over 400 students are enrolled at IBT from Pre-K through 9th grade.  The campus sits on over an acre in the city of Nkawkaw.  While IBT has never been better, the school founders are battling with their health and decided to turn over the school to African Equity Fund.  We are pleased to continue the great legacy of IBT and the Amponsah family.

AEF assumed full operations of the school in May 2010 and we have ambitious goals of making improvements and creating the best possible educational experience for these students and their families.  While IBT school is standard quality for Ghana, those coming from developed nations will find themselves wishing that these children had more.  The classrooms are in desparate need of new desks, chairs, writing boards, and books.  For security, we need to finish the perimeter wall around the campus.  We also desire to build basic computer and science labs. 

These are just the improvements we plan to make in the next few months.  Over time, we have a vision of changing the school name to Empower Academy, and to make it an example of what schools in Ghana can become.  We are fortunate to have the support of the Forever Young Foundation and KOMART on this project and we ask you to also join with us to help transform this school. 

Global Link Internet Cafe

Since 2006, we have been working with Richard Koomson, a talented young entrepreneur, to establish a reliable, high-speed internet cafe in Ghana. After two years of training, Richard received a diploma in Network Administration and Technology and began the prep work to identify our first site.

In August of 2008, we traveled to Ghana and helped Richard get our first cafe up and running in the city of Teshie. Almost immediately, Global Link became the internet cafe of choice due to our quality machines, connection, and unique services such as access to Skype and video conferencing. In addition to providing a new level of service to the local community, Global Link has been a financial success.

Most importantly, this project has provided hope, confidence, education, and a quality income to both of our managers. Both of these men have risen above poverty and tragedy and we are thrilled to have them as partners. We also give many thanks to KOMART and the Forever Young Foundation for their assistance in this project.

MicroBusiness Loans

In 2005, Slim Tettey approached us with a business model to build a bakery in Nsawam, Ghana. Slim was out of work and was trying to find a way to provide for his family. We provided $1,800 dollars in start-up capital, and 18 months later, the bakery was profitable. Slim had built up a reserve to pay back the start-up costs, but recently went blind in one eye. We suggested that he use the reserve funds for the necessary eye surgery. Slim's business has provided a stable income for his family and has employed three other full-time workers.

In 2003, Elizabeth Foluke's husband was held up and killed by armed robbers in Nigeria. She was left with no property, no income, and four children to support. She had set up a second-hand clothing stand in a rural area of Ghana and was doing well until her structure collapsed. We provided funding to build a new structure and to buy more inventory, and now Elizabeth's store is up and running again. We look to do more business with Elizabeth in the future.