The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

When I used to have my mailing address in the US and I was in Ghana, I would almost always go to Presec . But my surprise, since I moved to Ghana on August 17, 2011, I had never been to Presec . Tonight, I was there for the first time in a long time, visiting the National Science and Maths quiz (NSMQ) team. The visit had been warranted by some turn of events. Read about that here . As usual, I did some comparisons of Presec of today to that of when I was there, and I had a number of Presecans to discuss that with. Here goes. I used to shii impre aka sleep in class during prep aka evening study period in Presec a lot. I used to get tired easily. Tonight, there was a student who was wearing a white lacoste tonight. Yea, Presecans wear lacostes in school now. I met the assistant school prefect (1st) and he was wearing a lacoste too. He could, this other student couldn't. The latter's oje was gonna land him on trouble.  The Presec boys are at prep as usual. I haven't se...

As long as we at GhanaThink have been organizing Barcamps , one topic keeps coming up: the "unemployability" of our graduates #inGhana. People talk about how school feels so distant from the actual world of work that it almost makes no sense. These conversations have also ensued through our Konnect groups. It’s a tough reality to face, but as I often say, we have to refuse to "make or buy excuses" if we want to see real change. Less talk, more action, let’s drink malt to that! My own journey took me from studying Science at Presec-Legon to MIT for Civil Engineering and Stanford for Construction Engineering Management. But if you look at what I do today with GhanaThink and consulting in the workforce readiness, youth empowerment and digital spaces, it’s clear I didn't stay strictly in the "engineering lane". I followed my professional interests into technology and youth development because I realized the value of being versatile. What does "V...

  My journey didn’t begin in a living room with a famous or successful business man or politician in Ghana . It traces back to the vibrant, intellectually charged environment of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology ( KNUST ) campus in Kumasi , Ghana. Growing up, my parents were senior lecturers , and I was immersed in an academic ecosystem that felt both comfortable and, in a way, predetermined. There was an unspoken expectation—the path of least resistance—that I would follow in their footsteps, attend KNUST , and continue that cycle. This reflection comes after an insightful conversation I had with Kwame Boateng of Africa Capital Connect , where we dug deep into the origins of my entrepreneurial path [ 03:10 ]. You can watch our full, wide-ranging discussion on the Africa Capital Connect YouTube channel here: But there is a specific kind of entrepreneurial spirit that is often forged in the fires of teenage rebellion. At that stage in my life, I felt an i...

I first learnt about Tecno phones via my twin sisters. They had both gotten Tecno phones that run on the Symbian technology. They liked the sturdiness, easy to use and versatile nature of those phones. It could browse the internet and could take multiple chips. The phone was affordable with a very reasonable price. No wonder Tecno phones were and are still selling off the charts in Ghana . I was carrying a Nexus phone at the time and though my sisters liked their Tecno phones, they salivated over the cool Android device I had. After learning about the Tecno Phantom A and its price (wait for it), my sisters have to revisit using Tecno phones. I am already a new fan! My sisters would especially love the DUAL SIM functionality. This was clearly built for Africa. The Phantom A is well packaged and there are a number of pluses straight away. I love how the Facebook page for Tecno in Africa is embossed on the box, sending the message that Tecno takes its African customers (whic...

Ghana's Koby Maxwell and Liberia's Chris Deshield have collaborated on the soundtrack song for the upcoming Nollywood movie, Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark. I first heard them perform "Do it" during the Memorial Day weekend when both musicians were in the Bay Area for the first African Spring Bling organized by Deejay Burt and co. The song is very catchy and is bound to be a popular one amongst African music fans everywhere. Koby Maxwell told me about this Paparazzi - Eye in the Dark movie project when I met him during the Memorial Day weekend. He mentioned that he was acting in the movie, in addition to his burgeoning music career, amongst other things. At a BBQ party at Deejay Burt's house, he and Chris Deshield sang along to their 'Do it' duet. And now, with direction from editor and cinematographer Black Magic Tim, we have the music video. See the music video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55OLlLtTvgw Lyrics for the song coming here . Asking around, many...

I am one of the biggest proponents of wearing Ghanaian and African wear on Fridays. During Traveler John's time, the idea was pushed a lot and we see a lot of Ghanaians wear traditional fabric attires of Friday. They wear Ghana . For me, I wear Ghanaian and African wear 80% of the time to work. I wear Ghana everyday pretty much. I told  +Maame Efua Tandoh  earlier this week, everything I wear has to say something. On Fridays, I normally say " Think Ghana, it's Friday! TGIF! " Remixing what TGIF is. Today was the launch of Wear Ghana . A new fashion line called Wear Ghana was launched. Intriguing, yes. I wore the shirt that is more "Wear Ghana" than most shirts you will find. See the shirts in action here . Red, gold, grin :-) So I started the day by retweeting some @ GhanaThink tweets  ... #TGIF ! Wear Ghana, it's that day. #WearGhana #Standout http://t.co/S6gBhaBkPQ — GhanaThink (@Ghanathink) November 15, 2013 Think #Ghana , it's Fr...