 Welcome back to the YouTube channel to boy Mr Ghana baby and I'm back again with another episode right here in Accra Ghana and it's all about I left America to do something here in Ghana At long last, the battle has ended. Do you have a beloved country? My name is Maya and I'm from Tabradi Do you know how I got to know you? I don't even know you, I'm here to know you but I went to the A and C mall, the first ever mall that was built in Ghana and I flew my drone and I got to see solar panel on top of the building so I had to ask the owner who did this and he said you are the brain behind it so I had to reach out to you, I mean come and talk to you let me know what really inspired you to start something like this here in Ghana well my background is power systems you said you're from Tabradi, I'm also from Tabradi you're from Tabradi? I grew up in Tabradi Young Christian, GSTS, U.S. came back big power generation systems in the military came back home and set up a company called Sun Power Innovations so we do solar and we have more footprint than most of the solar companies at the moment we have about 10 megawatts and that's how we came into contact with Edmond you know this is just like a brief let's go into details you're born in Tabradi, you studied in GSTS and after GSTS what happened? I went to the U.S. to do what? to go to school oh okay and after school in the U.S. what did you do? well I served in the military and after my service in U.S. military? yes yes then after service I came home to give back so it came home to give back as in I mean this is where it all started what motivated me actually was the fact that the power situation in Ghana wasn't all that good wasn't all that there so what is the best solution and from my travels around the world the best solution was solar so that's what motivated me to come back and do some power innovations wow you know like I just wanted to say that what you did or what you've been doing is amazing because you know in Ghana the power situation is not all that good but I just wanted to know something in here you live in the state I mean you're in the military you live in your best life and you decided to leave all that and come solve Ghana's problem I just wanted to know is everything okay with you of course I'm okay right unless you tell me because you know I've been talking to a lot of Africans that are living in the diaspora telling me that when I left Ghana Ghana was not good and I'm definitely not coming back because I don't think I need to solve the problems of Africa the politicians need to do that so what's the problem now you came to solve it which is incredible well there are problems everywhere anywhere in the world whether it's US, Europe, China, wherever what was the problem that you faced when you were in the US many just like here you have to get a job you have to pay your bills you have to deal with systems that sometimes might not favor you the same systems we face here you know it seems you're trying to talk in parables existing existing what kind of system are you talking about in here systems I mean the system that you said a system in the US that cannot favor you no not necessarily so let me put it this way coming back home it's not easy there has to be a motivation to it you transition from a place where everything is structured and everything depends on your performance and your ability to deliver back home even when you don't deliver you have an uncle you can't go to India in your place so that's an advantage for coming back home but the motivation should be you coming back to better a place that didn't look like where you live currently because in the US everything is developed everything is there the systems work power is stable water is stable accommodation is there as long as you work hard you can have a comfortable life but is it the same here the basic necessities of man is food, shelter and clothing is it the same for everyone living in Africa it's not easy transitioning to a place where you know you're going to start all over but like I said there has to be a motivation and that same motivation that drives you to deliver over there in the US or wherever you find yourself it's the same motivation that you need to have when you come back and I believe if you do that you'll succeed here and how long have you been here it's been about four and a half years since I've been back and you came back immediately you came back you started the company or yeah I mean I I set up the company while I was still in the US so I went back to the US a year I came back and I decided to settle and make sure that the business grows and I've not regretted doing that it's been a challenge but it's been a fulfilling challenge you know I just wanted to ask you but you think you've actually answered me I wanted to ask you did you regret coming back home and I think you've already answered me no yeah it's been fulfilling I love it I mean let's talk about the challenges coming back in here in terms of acquiring the land setting up your own business because I know there are so many people out there who are looking forward to be just like you what were the major challenges that you faced when you came back here well you don't know anyone it's been a long time since you left you have to learn the environment completely and I just then when I came I didn't even know I would tell someone I was coming here but I was circling so a trip of 20 minutes would take 2 hours so these are some of the challenges there is nothing like there is no venture capital there is no angel investors so you have to be driven to survive and I think I should give kudos to the micro finances that used to exist some of them helped us to establish and here we are you try to say this is a guardian own completely guardian you are the friend behind yeah so I founded this company and I think 2 years down the line because of all the good works we were doing we got another investor who is also Ghanian American so he brought he came to invest in us so he injected equity and I think last year we kept growing at a very fast pace so we also got another investor from the US he is not Ghanian he lived here when he was a kid he actually lived here before so he knew the environment so looking at what we did he got motivated so it is 3 shareholders right now are you still looking for investors? absolutely it needs to be a lesson I need to invest in your company since you are from Takradi I need to invest in we sell and share I got so many people you want to tell them something I know they are ready so if you are looking for investors just feel free to tell them we are a team of young people like I said we have done about 10 megawatts in a very short period we have the largest footprint in Ghana we have ambition to go to other African countries because yes Africa is not connected to the grid we have other parts of Africa that still struggle with our problems so the goal and objective is to go to these countries also so we want to expand so if you are there and you want to be part of some power innovations and join a young winning team you are welcome to join us do you have competitors? absolutely it's a very competitive space is it a Ghana is it a Ghana competitors or foreigners? both you have Ganyes that are thriving in this industry and you have because Africa is dark when I say dark I say not bad dark but it's not connected to the grid so there is no light so because of that there is opportunity in power here because of that gap so you have most companies from America, Canada, Europe Asia all trying to come into the space which is good so that is what brings the competition but at the end of the day we are local content and there are laws that protect local content also so we need your exposure and your experience at the same time we also have to protect local content so everyone is welcome to the space there is a saying that Africa for Africans and I know that a lot of African brothers who are also looking for what to come back on invest in the continent you as a brother if you want to talk to your fellow brothers and sisters watching us right now what would the message be? welcome home anytime you want to there are opportunities here that you cannot find outside of diaspora for example if you want to do solar you have to compete with maybe solar city in America which is a huge multi billion dollar business so how are you going to compete with them but in Africa it's green you come here, you work hard you can build and grow at a very fast pace compared to what you can do in a very developed environment so it's time to master courage and come home and also give back it's not just coming to make money it's not giving back and I think in the process of giving back you can be successful I really wanted to do this video in 10 minutes but I think it's going to take 10 minutes I have a last person to ask so you're always talking about giving back giving back are you trying to say that they shouldn't come and look for jobs but they should rather come and create jobs that's what you're trying to say where are the jobs you need to come and create the jobs create opportunities here we need that money that you guys have we need that connections to build the space the opportunities are here tremendous opportunities but we need the right people to come and harness it and so it becomes a big part for everyone Mr. Misa I just wanted to know something you said whenever you come into Africa you need to come and create jobs I just want to know how many people have employed so far we are about 60 60 wow and all of them get a picture from you of course can you employ me of course I can't pay you what is this so these are inverters these are residential inverters this box is 5 kilowatt so you combine to you get 10 kilowatt and as you can see this is on solar so you are enjoying the solar all the air conditioning you don't pay electricity no we don't we generate our own power wow and how much does it cost maybe for this whole building how much is it going to cost me oh it depends it depends it's affordable that's what you want to know it's a long term it's affordable even though it's long term it's very affordable because these systems are quality systems we sell tier one in the solar space tier one means it's done very well it's worldwide that's what most countries are using you can find this box in the US Germany Australia, China anywhere and that's globally you know how did you go but I miss it for Africans on the continent let's stay together but we need to stay together our borders need to be open we need to do business together we need to love ourselves and I think the sky is the limit thank you so much for talking to me thank you