How some Ghanaian Passionate, Proactive, Positive (social media) Posts Forged a Nationwide Network of ChangeMakers, Doers, Entrepreneurs in Ghana, etc

 

The Spark: Tweets That Lit Fire

In March 2009, a simple notification popped up on Twitter. It was a reply from me @Abocco to a fellow user, @macjordan: "hey, we starting to plan for a Barcamp Accra. wanna help? will email ya."

This was not just an invitation. It was a genesis. Using less than 140-characters, this tweet was another digital brick in what would become a cathedral of community—a sprawling network of innovators, entrepreneurs, and creatives across Ghana and beyond. This marked the beginning of a journey where social media was not just for conversation, but for construction, community building and documentation. In our collective opinion at the time, Twitter & Barcamp were made for each other.

Many would say that I have long been a central node in Ghana's tech ecosystem, even before I returned to Ghana to work for Google in 2011. My work in the ecosystem has been a lot, but what I like most is the fertile ground that many GhanaThink members and myself have helped prepare for thousands of others to grow. Through the GhanaThink Foundation and its flagship initiative, Barcamp Ghana, we have demonstrated a powerful new model for ecosystem building in the digital age.

The Blueprint: Decentralized and Volunteer-Driven

The model that emerged from those early tweets as we were early adopters of Twitter (now X) in Ghana was revolutionary in its simplicity and powerful in its execution. Unlike top-down initiatives, Barcamp Ghana has been fundamentally decentralized and volunteer-driven.

1. Open-Source Ideology: Drawing from the "unconference" format of BarCamps worldwide, the first Barcamps in Ghana naturally were adhoc and user generated. However, to bring this new idea of an event into Ghana and Ghanaian communities in the Diaspora, we had to choose a few keynote speakers (some of whom are amongst the greatest of their generation - Gen X) for the first ones. The breakout sessions also empowered every participant to be a potential speaker and contributor, valuing ideas over titles.

2. Local Ownership: These tweets by @Abocco & others like other Barcamp in Ghana pioneers like @MacJordan @Ttaaggooee @KafuiDay @GamelMag @NiiKwade @DonaldWardGH etc soon evolved from planning BarCamp Accra to supporting BarCamps in other cities. We began tweeting support for events in Kumasi, Cape Coast, Takoradi, and Ho. The strategy was to identify and empower local "doers" in each city—people like Kofi Yeboah & Kobe Subramaniam in Cape Coast, Nana Kwabena Owusu, Teresa Lemaire and Ato Kwamena Appiah-Kubi in Kumasi, Eli Aidam in Ho, Archie Essel and Glenda Jonfiah in Takoradi —to own and execute the Barcamp Ghana project and movement for their communities. This ensured relevance and sustainability.

3. The Power of the "We": The language we used in these tweets have been consistently collaborative. It’s never "I built this," but "we starting to plan," "our Barcamp," "the team." This ethos of collective achievement has been woven into the DNA of these earlier Barcamp organizers from these first tweets in 2009, attracting others who believed in the mission - mobilizing & organizing talent for the primary benefit of Ghana & beyond, not the individual. This helped us scale easily, with many interested, available and passionate volunteers who eventually became GhanaThink members 

Beyond the Event: The Ripple Effects of Connection

The true impact of GhanaThink’s Barcamp Ghana is not really just the events themselves, which have now surpassed 120 across Ghana in a 15+ year period. The magic happened in the spaces between—the connections forged in individual conversations, the collaborations sparked after a session, and the companies born from chance encounters.

Even during the lean years of covid-19 when we could not have physical Barcamps, our digital prowess drove virtual Barcamps in 2021 and 2022. Twitter was massive for this, just like Zoom, as we networked youth who identify with Ghana all over the world. When we returned to physical Barcamps with Barcamp Cape Coast and Barcamp Accra in 2022, we continued to trend on Twitter just like in yesteryears. 

The digital chronicle of these Ghanaians - cheetah generation - serves as a living record of these ripple effects:

• The tweets and posts amplified the work of countless Ghanaian bloggers and tech enthusiasts, turning isolated voices into a chorus of retweets, replies, etc.

• These social media posts celebrated the success of others, from new startup launches to individual achievements, constantly reinforcing the community's value.

• GhanaThink Foundation was able to branch out into other critical programs like Junior Camp Ghana (for second-cycle students) and Ghana Volunteer Program in 2013, proving that the community-building engine could be applied to produce more projects which could become programs with massive impact. 

The Digital Architect's Philosophy

Through over a decade of tweets, a clear philosophy has emerged from the work of GhanaThink members like Ato Ulzen-Appiah @Abocco:

• Action Over Talk: The focus was always on doing, growing from thinking, talking, etc. Tsooboi! Yei! A tweet would often move seamlessly from an idea to a call for collaborators to a plan of action. This is in GhanaThink’s motto, “Less Talk, More Action”. 

• Abundance Mindset: We have always operated on the belief that there is enough success for everyone, and that one person's achievement lifts the entire community. This countered a scarcity mindset and has continued to foster generous collaboration.

• Authentic Advocacy: 2 of the 6 P words that in GhanaThink vision are patriotic and passionate. Our passion for Ghana’s and Africa’s potential has never been in question. This genuine belief gave us the credibility to mobilize people consistently over a long period.

A Legacy of Builders

The ultimate testament to this community-building playbook is not the number of tweets or events, but the vibrant, self-sustaining ecosystem that exists today. Hundreds of Barcampers (past participants of Barcamps in Ghana) are now leaders in their own right, launching companies, leading NGOs, and driving innovation across sectors. They have become more valuable. They are the living architecture of a cathedral of community that began with a few tweets, in a time when many were not concerned about clout.

The work of various GhanaThink Foundation members in organizing Barcamps has provided the infrastructure for connection. We have proven that with a clear vision, a collaborative spirit, and the strategic use of digital tools, it is possible to build a network that is made up of changemakers, doers, entrepreneurs, and innovators, etc.