Konnected Minds Podcast

From losing over a million dollars in a rice business gone wrong to understanding the brutal reality of predatory pricing and foreign dominance in Ghana's food import sector, and why the harsh truth about entering the rice business is that you can't just walk in with a hundred thousand dollars thinking it's easy money because the moment you show up with your shipment the established players who own 12 brands each will scrub their prices down to cost price and even below just to frustrate you out of the market selling rice at 200 cedis when it's impossible unless they didn't pay duty or got the rice for free, the entrepreneur who faces predatory pricing where competitors intentionally lose money just to keep new players out of the market cutting prices so low that first time importers are forced to sell below cost and lose their capital before eventually quitting the business allowing the big players to raise prices again and recover everything they lost kicking you out, the business owner who warns that 80% of rice importers in Ghana are foreigners from the Middle East India and Lebanon creating a serious concern about food security when the country's food supply of rice sugar and other imports are mainly in the hands of foreigners not because they're not helping the economy or providing jobs but because no Ghanaian businessmen can survive in an environment where the people in the companies are robbing Ghanaians themselves, the realization that these foreign business owners have been here for generations and actually have Ghanaian passports and speak Twi so fluently that if you don't see them and only hear them on the microphone you might think it's a Ghanaian speaking proving how deeply rooted they are in the system, the imported rice versus locally produced rice debate where imported rice is cheaper than locally produced rice because the cost of production in Ghana is so high and all borne by the farmer while in other countries the government provides machinery fertilizers tractors and combined harvesters for free as grants supporting their agribusiness, the farmer in Ghana who has to pay for the tractor buy gasoline rent the combined harvester plow the floor and bear all those costs alone ending up with a product that's not even as fine but still highly priced compared to imported rice making it impossible for any rational Ghanaian consumer to choose local when there's Ghanaian rice at an exhibition selling for 450 cedis while imported rice is way less, the thought of growing rice in Ghana that died after research showed it would result in losses because government promises to help the agri sector never come and friends who own farms in Volta region get no help and have to call for assistance just to sell their rice, the shocking data that the entire rice harvested in Ghana is not enough to feed the people of Greater Accra for two weeks yet people still complain about not having buyers because it's not about demand it's about pricing since farmers spent a lot of money to produce and are suffering, the solution that would affect a lot of importers but could work if the government pushes an agenda for 70% consumption of local produce and 30% importation but only if the government also supports the farmers because otherwise importers would just quit and switch to farming to gain from government support, the threat to the economy when the people who control how much food comes into Ghana are foreigners who are helping the economy yes but building theirs even better sending all the money back to their homes creating a situation where if they decide they're done and leave Ghana will go hungry.

Host: Derrick Abaitey

From watching poor families struggle while having an awakening at 12 years old that no one is coming to save you to building six businesses before turning 30, and why the brutal truth about entrepreneurship is that if a thought makes you nervous it's worth pursuing because people who fear money don't get it and the things that scare you the most are exactly where your success is hiding waiting for you to be brave enough to reach for it, the young man who spent time with his grandmother selling beads in Fishy past learning that her generation would work regardless of conditions for five cedis a day to provide for their families while his father's generation would work but could switch jobs and his generation resigns when things get uncomfortable and Gen Z doesn't want to work at all, the first among six siblings who got an awakening around 12 or 13 years old realizing that no one was coming to save his family so while his siblings stayed home to play he would go with his grandmother to sell beads the waist beads and king beads that she made into chains and wrist beads, the grandson whose grandma was the one with the money in the family making beads but also having farms and animals like pigs and sheep that people would buy bringing income and always taking him along to sell teaching him the foundation of business, the pattern that grandmas and entrepreneurs share something special because those who spend time with grandma like him and others become business people proving there's something about that generation that understood work and sacrifice, the 18 year old missionary who spent two years on the streets of Lagos in Nigeria asking himself what next and didn't really believe so much in school because that's not the only way to get educated realizing school is just one of the best ways but not the only way, the young man who turned his Christian mission work into personal life lessons learning that if he could convince a stranger to leave their church and join a new church that was a big skill he could use in business and life, the philosophy that the thought that makes you nervous before you do it is exactly what you should do because that thought that comes to your mind that makes you think so much you get scared of it that is it go for it, the wisdom that if you're asking yourself questions about that thing that thought that has awakened you saying I need to do this I need to do that don't be scared because that thought you are scared of is where your success is, the shark mentality that if you are going for your dreams you are the shark of the ocean and sharks bite fishes but that doesn't mean they're bad sharks that's what they are destined to be they need to survive, the line between being the shark and being a bad shark which is going for what you want the right way by utilizing the resources in terms of people around you to get what you want but the right way, the connector who knows person A has something and person B needs that thing so he gets it from person A and gives it to person B making both happy but gaining more than each of them because that's how you conquer, the choice between being a shark or a shrimp in this world because shrimps get eaten so you have to decide which one you want to be, the business starter who had zero money when he started but just had a vision and a dream and got people to give him money that he wasn't even sure would be a success because he found out the problems people have and provided solutions, the problem solver who understands that someone's problem is they have a lot of money and don't know what to do with it so you go find a solution to that person's problem because a person who provides solutions to problems is a successful person, the reality that all the successful people in the world have always provided solutions to problems without actually using their own resources it's just people they provide a solution to the problem someone has.

Host: Derrick Abaitey

From watching wealthy neighbors from a poor home where his father farmed and his mother sold grounded pepper and cassava in the markets to building a rice empire and multiple businesses before turning 30, and why the brutal truth about money is that most people fear it because they were taught to fear it growing up watching Nigerian movies where every rich person was portrayed as an occultist or ritualist making their parents restrict them from dreaming big but when you grow up as the poor child in the only proprietary school in your village walking to school while other kids get picked up in fancy cars you either become bitter or you watch the extremely wealthy neighbors in your backyard and study how they move and decide that fear will not control you, the young man who saw a million dollars in his personal account at 25 years old proving that when people say they made their first million it is real because he lived it and saw the money with his own eyes, the entrepreneur who came across a document of a shipment of rice from Vietnam to Ghana that he was never supposed to see and studied the numbers and something just hit him that this could be it, the founder and CEO of CH Rider Group who owns companies in transport and has his own rice brand and real estate companies building what is already a legacy before even turning 30, the first of six siblings and the first of two males who was taught humility through affliction because when you don't have money and you're surrounded by people who do you learn to value genuine friendship since every friend you made while you were young was actually a genuine friend because they weren't your friends because you had something they just trusted in you, the son whose parents made sure he and his brother got the best even though they were poor sending them to the only proprietary school in the village while his dad went to farm and his mom sold in the markets, the young boy who wasn't allowed to watch movies because his parents thought the Nigerian films showing ritualists and occults would affect them and make them think that's how you make money instilling fear of money in an entire generation, the different mind who watched rich people and their children and saw himself doing even better if he had the opportunity instead of being scared or bitter about the inequality, the man who believes money answers all things exactly like the Bible says and thinks every average person out there should not fear money but should command it because people who don't fear money have the will to control it and turn it into the way they want, the philosophy that if you're able to control money you can control anything so don't be scared of how much money or scared of money just know how to use it, the wisdom that a lot of people fear money and when you tell someone that thing costs a hundred thousand they say whoa and that's fear but he doesn't fear money because he knows if he had it he would know what to turn it into to even tenfold it, the realization that most of his generation were brought up from poor homes and were taught to fear money because their parents didn't have it and how they spoke of money made it seem like people who have money are probably superstitious ritualists or fraudsters or drug dealers limiting the young generation from knowing what to do if they come across money, the neighbor who lived just at the backyard with extremely wealthy people and watched their lives studying how success actually works instead of believing the narrative that money equals evil, the business owner who lost over a million US dollars in three months when rice disappeared with no revenue and no recovery putting the company in debt but didn't let that destroy him.

He built Ghana's most influential blog before the word "blogger" even existed. 20 years. No marketing team. No strategy. Just luck — and knowing when to say yes.

But here's what nobody talks about: what happens when the content stops paying?

In this episode of Konnected Minds, Derrick sits down with Ameyaw Debrah — Ghana's pioneer blogger, media entrepreneur, and founder of ameyawdebrah.com — for one of the most honest conversations about creative entrepreneurship you will hear this year.

Ameyaw has spent 20 years at the centre of Ghana's entertainment and media industry. He launched Pulse Ghana, led YEN.com.gh, and built a personal brand that brands now come to — without him ever having to pitch. But behind the success is a story of calculated gambles, a father's dream that never got to be realised, a regret about ignoring an entire generation, and a very honest question: what is the plan when the content stops?

This is not the regular success story. This is the real one.

🎟️ Konnected MInds Live Kumasi, Sept 9th. https://www.konnectedmindslive.com/

Guest: Ameyaw Debrah

YT: https://www.youtube.com/ameyaw

Host: Derrick Abaitey

IG: https://www.instagram.com/derrick.abaitey

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@DerrickAbaitey

Join Konnected Academy: https://www.triibe.io/konnected-academy

🎟️ Konnected MInds Live Kumasi, Sept 9th. https://www.konnectedmindslive.com/

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From teaching English in Vietnam to importing rice worth over a million dollars in Ghana, and why the brutal truth about building trust is that you need to be brought up right where your yes is your yes and your no is your no but you also need to remember that your surroundings matter because you need to surround yourself with winners and listen to their problems and provide solutions to their problems so you can gain their trust, the young man who learned from his own personal experiences that every time you meet a new person you try to find their problem and figure out who they are so you can utilize the resources they have the right way making them happy while you gain more than them, the English teacher who moved from the Philippines to Vietnam in 2019 and met new people and made friends with a very big man in the country who introduced him to his father, a 65 year old General Director of Vietnamese government companies that had never employed any foreigner since its beginning and had never explored outside their territories, the confident young man who was asked what can you do and said I can take your company across Vietnam even though he didn't even know what he was talking about but had that confidence which led to the creation of an international commercial department where he was made the lead, the department head who started searching for whatever he could do for that company making deals and transacting internationally with South Korea and Japan bringing in multiple international deals and getting commission from the company every time, the 24 or 25 year old who made his first million dollars in his personal account proving that when people say they made their first million it is real because he lived it and saw the money with his own eyes, the entrepreneur who came back home thinking he could start something like Grab the Southeast Asian motorbike Uber service and registered a company called Ryder Group with a Y and built the app before realizing it's illegal to use motorcycles for commercial purposes in Ghana only for delivery of packages, the businessman who spent a lot of money from other people on the failed motorbike venture but his own money was still there so he reached back to those people and said we will not be allowed to operate because of this and they didn't pull back because of the trust they had, the employee who came across a document of a shipment of rice from Vietnam to Ghana that he was never supposed to see but took a peak and saw a whole vessel of rice shipment and studied the numbers and something just hit him that this could be it, the young man looking for a legacy that would send his name and make his family proud and help his community even though he had the option to relocate to Switzerland and give his money to a Swiss bank and stay and enjoy the dividends every quarter like his two friends who are currently there doing exactly that, the son who chose not to be selfish and go to Switzerland and forget about everything because he knew what he was coming from and knew the home he came from and knew he had a responsibility to his family and his neighbor and his community and his country, the importer who returned with his money and turned the company and updated the activities from the original plan to importation of general goods and sought the right paperwork to import stuff and did a market research before bringing in a heavy shipment over a million US dollars as the first shipment going all in.

Host: Derrick Abaitey