₦airaland Forum

safarigirl: holler at me when they make a motorbike. I'm not a car person.

Good work still

rastamouse: Nice one there. I strongly believe it is Ghana and Nigeria that have the mental toughness and the confidence to lead Africa's renaissance.

Good job

Yes oo

PointB: Good for Ghana, good for Africa.

Well done Ghana!

Innoson should start international marketing no dulling AFRICA.

overhypeteve safarigirl brownloards wale112 we must get this car sharply

Africa must rise

A father and his pilot son in a country with no history of manufacturing are making products that will stun the world.


Africa
Ghana's talented but ignored inventors
A father and his pilot son in a country with no history of manufacturing are making products that will stun the world.
Kent Mensah Last updated: 24 Aug 2014 20:16




Accra, Ghana - Imagine having a television set that comes on after an effortless clap or by blowing air; picture yourself in a car that is engineless and starts with a simple push of a button tucked to your dress; or a change-over-machine that speaks and tells you where exactly a fire or electrical fault is in your home.

This is not fiction. It is not magic. It is not happening in Europe or Asia and not even in the United States. These products are being manufactured in the West African nation of Ghana.

The brains behind this is Apostle Dr Kwadwo Safo, owner of the Kantanka Group of Companies. He is naturally gifted. A genius. An inventor and a philanthropist. He has no formal or sophisticated technical background. He imagines, dreams and creates at will. He lives in his own world.

It takes about 45 minutes from Accra, the capital, to reach his "city" at Gomoa Mpota in the central region of Ghana. It is set apart from the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Accra. His flag - blue, red, yellow and white stars embossed on the blue hue - constantly flies at a junction on the highway you reach after going past beautiful green landscapes that lead to his location.

It is a large tract of land. The buildings are huge. The ambiance is engaging. It has a natural touch and feel, complete with tortoises - the oldest is 40 years - and a porcupine, evidence of Safo's love for nature.

Engineless car

A large African map showing a picture of Apostle Safo spinning a ball imprinted with pictures, a huge star beneath it and a miniature aircraft welcome visitors.

It takes close to two-and-a-half hours to tour his complex in a car. His son, Kwadwo Safo Jnr, a commercial pilot who acquired his licence at age 19, welcomed Al Jazeera. He is the group's chief operations officer.

After driving past the tortoises, the first point of call was a workshop where a chopper was being manufactured alongside a hand-made engineless five-seater vehicle.

The whites believed in themselves and got to where they are now. They are no different from us. We all stayed in our mothers' womb for nine months

- Safo Jnr, Chief Operations Officer of the Kantanka Group of Companies

Safo Jnr said they will ensure there is no risk in test-flying the chopper and explained how the engineless car will work.

"The non-engine vehicle does not rely on a combustion engine to move, but an electric motor powered by rechargeable batteries," Safo Jnr told Al Jazeera.

"The batteries can be recharged with solar energy or electricity. As you drive the car on the road, it converts the energy from the sun into mechanical energy which powers the car.

"We do everything here. For the engineless car it is only the lights and the tyres that were bought. Everything else from moulding [parts], among others, was done by our local people."

A peacock bade us goodbye from that section, then three zebras smiled at us as we drove on an untarred road towards the colossal buildings on the outskirts. They are four in all, neatly painted and look abandoned when viewed from a distance.

The structures serve as the assembling plants for the yet-to-be unveiled Kantanka range of commercial vehicles - sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks.

Although some car parts are imported, assembling the more than 1,500 pieces for a car and spraying are done by about 20 young men between the ages of 16-25 years. Amazingly, they have no formal training in building a car.

"Most of them are junior and senior high school leavers. The people who are actually racking their brains here to make things work have never been to school before," Safo Jnr said.

Six to 10 cars can be assembled and be ready for the road in a day. Four had been completed and tested by the time Al Jazeera visited. It is hard to tell they were actually assembled in Ghana, save for the Kantanka crown and inscription at the back.

Market plans



"We have delayed ... going commercial because Africans and Ghanaians in general have the perception that once it is from Ghana, it is not good - durability is not assured, safety is not guaranteed. So we have decided to use the products ourselves and make sure they are good to go and standardised before we hit the market.

"I was in Brazil about six months ago and I was in tears. The whole of Rio de Janeiro was packed with Marcopolo buses ... and these are buses that were assembled and made in Brazil.

"They patronise it. In India they encourage made-in-India vehicles - like Mahindra - and that's my dream to one day see Kantanka cars on the streets of Accra, Kumasi and all over. I will be fulfilled," a visibly euphoric Safo Jnr pointed out in his office fitted with a locally made air-conditioner that is switched on and off by slotting in a card.

The card in the air-conditioner, explained Safo Jnr, works like one used for an ATM. It is programmed to start the air-conditioner, regulate the temperature and can tell the time when the unit should be turned off. It is multi-functional, he said.

Difficult questions

While hugely ambitious and a potential source of pride for a country that is only known for its gold, cocoa and lately oil, the Kantanka project still raises major questions. Who, for example, will buy SUVs in a country where the average income is $1,400 and where just about everyone drives a used car? Do the carmakers perform crash tests, and will they meet the high standards of cars made in Europe and Asia?

"We will be doing that in the course of our manufacturing process," said Safo Jnr, referring to crash tests.

The cars will be "affordable" and middle-income earners will be able to buy them. "We know the market and we can assure you that Africans will be able to buy our cars," he said.

In some countries projects such as this attract financial assistance from the government. But Ghanaian governments upon governments seem to have ignored the "Star of Africa", as Apostle Dr Safo is called by the people of Ghana.

Not even his self-made Limousine dubbed "Obrempong", the speaking change-over-machine, or a range of flat-screen television sets made with wood covers that respond to a simple clap to come alive, increase or reduce volumes have fascinated the government enough to support one of their own.

Determined to succeed

The Safo family is undaunted though.

"Most of the promises they have made, they say they are in the pipelines. I'm sure African pipelines are very choked so the water is not flowing. Not even the corporate world has shown concern … We are still hoping," said Safo.

"We have had several offers from Asia and Europe, but we turn them down because we just want to stay in Africa and make sure that whatever we are doing here we'll be able to achieve our dreams.

"People tell us that we are wasting our time because we won't get anywhere. But we pay no attention to them, rather we make sure that we prove them wrong by meeting targets that we set for ourselves."

The US-trained young pilot is optimistic about the future. For him, it is a matter of trust and belief in the African.

"The whites believed in themselves and got to where they are now. They are no different from us. We all stayed in our mothers' womb for nine months ... If you cut a white and a black man you get blood. The only differences are our names and colours," he said.

"So we should believe in ourselves. We must reduce the talking and put in work."
Source:
Al Jazeera


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/08/ghana-talented-but-ignored-inventors-2014823191921173432.html

Gooci: @ op, yur a failed experiment of a condom company.

ammyluv2002: English? With which tongue

Ghanaians speak proper english.

Francophone students go to Ghana to learn English

I need only Three simple steps to change my nairaland username. I dont want 4 or 5. Just 3

Discuss

Idrismusty97: Penetration is not about population, if it is morroco and Tunisia wouldn't have made that list. Ghana population is three times bigger than that of Tunisia yet Tunisia have more internet penetration than Ghana. Morroco is about the same population with Ghana yet it is among the top three even better than South Africa with a population of over 40million.

blah blah blah

Ghana has been ranked first in Africa in Mathematics and Science, according to the Global Information Technology report 2014, compiled by the World Economic Forum.

The report, which monitored the global competitiveness of countries in the areas of Mathematics and Science, also ranked Ghana 48th in the world.

The report, which provides an assessment of network readiness or how prepared an economy was to apply the benefits of information and communication technology (ICT) to promote national economic growth and well-being, ranked Nigeria 133rd.

According to the report, South Africa’s educational system in general was assessed to be of ‘very poor quality” and ranked 146th out of 148 countries.

The report said in 2013 alone 12.5 million English, Mathematics and Science core textbooks were distributed in public primary and junior high schools which enabled Ghana to exceed the universal textbook to pupil ratio of three textbooks per pupil.

Currently, Ghana’s textbook-pupil ratio stands at four textbooks per pupil from the previous ratio of one for three pupils.

Statistics made available in the report indicated that growth in the kindergarten schools grew by 17.3 per cent from 16,439 during the 2008/2009 academic year to 19,277 in the 2012/2013 academic year. Primary schools grew by 11 per cent from 17,881 in 2008/ 2009 to 19,854 in 2012/2013 academic year, while junior high schools grew by 21.8 per cent from 10,213 during the 2008/2009 academic year to 12,436 in 2012/2013 academic year.

According to the report, kindergarten enrolment rose to 19.9 per cent from 133,388,454 in 2008/2009 academic year to 1,604,505 in 2012/2013 academic year. Primary school enrolment rose by 10.7 per cent from 3,710,647 during the 2008/2009 to 4,105,913 at 2012/2013 academic year, while JHS enrolment recorded 13 per cent with enrolment growing from 1,285,277 during the 2008/2009 academic year.

Interventions

The report cited a number of interventions that accounted for the significant growth in access to education since 2009.

The report said a total of 2,064 basic school projects had been under construction of which 432 were funded from regular government revenue and 1,632 funded from the GETFund, adding that more than half of the projects had been completed and handed over.

According to the report, 100 million exercise books had been distributed since 2009 and in 2013 alone, 32 million exercise books were distributed to 4,768,806 pupils across the country while 10 million exercise books had been distributed this year.

In addition, the report said in 2013,170,221 pupils were supplied with free school uniforms, while 10 million uniforms were being distributed in the year.

On Capitation Grant, the report said GH¢24,472,840 was paid to cover 5,741,198 representing 30 per cent of pupils in public basic schools for the 2012/2013 academic year.

On school feeding programme, the report said the total coverage increased from 441,189 children to 1,739,357 children by the programme that was now fully funded by the government after the Dutch government pulled out, citing corruption as the reason.

BECE candidates

The report said GH¢9,031,338 was used to subsidise the registration cost of 391,079 candidates from the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

It explained that in 2014,462,961 final year JHS students would be subsidised at a cost of GH¢14,803,635, representing 70 per cent of the bill, with parents paying GH¢15, which is 30 per cent of the examination fees.

The report added that as part of the efforts aimed at providing opportunities for BECE candidates who did not meet the criteria for the selection into senior high schools, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the West African Examinations Council, had reviewed the policy on BECE re-sit to introduce a new system under which private candidates would be allowed to re-sit beginning February 2015.

ICT education

To improve ICT education, the report said 60,000 laptops were distributed to basic school pupils in all the regions with 50,000 basic school teachers benefitting from the ICT programme.

On the Complementary Basic Education for out-of-school children, 25,000 out-of-school children were enrolled in 2013 and were currently being taught under the management of nine implementing partners including School for Life as a mechanism to mainstream them into the formal school system after graduation.


http://graphic.com.gh/news/education/24666-ghana-tops-in-maths-science-in-africa.html

Korea 3 - Nigayria 0


I have spoken

tensazangetsu: ghana internet is fast i remember one cafe i used to visit at ashaley botwe man the speed na die o even their network providers sef no be this nonsense where we get for naija here

Tell them the truth people who havent been outside nigeria dont know shiiiit

NIGERIA: Lagos, the mega-city of slums

Dirty country


Google Nairobi kenya

mumu country

The internet speed in Ghana is amazing? How did they even get such speed for their internet? No wonder many yahoo guys are in the country now.

After people will say naija is giant of Africa

brownlord: The poor always trying to impress the reach

You need Ghanaian education its Rich not reach

Really?

Can you imagine?

75,000 Nigerians Studying In small Ghana


https://www.nairaland.com/1859136/75000-nigerians-studying-ghana

The recent deaths of some Nigerian students in Ghana shattered the ‘Eldorado’ perceptions of Nigerian parents towards Ghanaian tertiary institutions. Subsequent critical assessment of Ghana’s institutions has highlighted their good, bad and the ugly sides – along with the extraordinary news that there are now some 75,000 Nigerians studying in Ghana.

Authorities in the two West African countries have agreed to implement the Arusha Convention on recognition of higher education qualifications in Africa, with a view to improving the portability of degrees and tackling problems in many private universities in Ghana, where Nigerian enrolments are on the rise.

The murder of Godwin Ayogu (19), a Nigerian social science student at the University of Cape Coast, awakened the consciousness of Nigerians towards some harsh realities of the living and working conditions of Nigerians in the neighbouring country.

In April, five students were arrested for allegedly killing Ayogu when he tried to recover money lent to a fellow student. Late last year two Nigerian students accidently drowned while on a university outing in Ghana, and a Nigerian school pupil died mysteriously in Tema.

Surprising numbers

The Ayogu case triggered an intervention by the Nigerian government through its embassy in Ghana’s capital Accra, and also made Nigerians aware for the first time just how many Nigerian students were in Ghana’s public and private universities.

In a public lecture Lamido Sanusi, former governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank, revealed the numbers and cost implications for students.

“Although there are no comprehensive data on the number of Nigerian students abroad, recent data have shown that there are about 71,000 Nigerian students in Ghana paying about US$1 billion annually as tuition fees and upkeep, as against the annual budget of US$751 million for all federal universities.

“In other words, the money spent by Nigerian students studying in Ghana with a better organised system is more than the annual budget of all federal universities in the country,” Sanusi said.

“Nigeria is today placed third on the list of countries with the highest number of students studying overseas.”

Sanusi’s extraordinary figures are considered reliable, since all requests for overseas remittances – including for student fee and upkeep payments – go through the bank. But they could be on the low side as they are based only on remittances, and other estimates have put the numbers at 75,000 Nigerian students in Ghana.

Nigerians highly value education and families dream of producing a graduate. But there are not nearly enough places in universities.

Every year about 1.5 million school leavers sit for compulsory entrance examinations into 150 public and private universities whose approved carrying capacity is 600,000 students.

It is not surprising that Ghana has become a destination for many of the very large number of Nigerian students who do not gain access to higher education at home.

Source: World University News

http://www.punchng.com/education/75000-nigerians-studying-in-ghana-study/

Nomski0: Why are Brazilian players eating Banana?

Banana is the only food that gives instant energy.

msporche: Apologies for calling you a bastard

EWU gambia

msporche: Dis are part of the bastards that needs to be flushed out

typical nigeria girls talk from their anus. bastard child