a bit about Ghana

Ghana, located in West Africa, is bordered by the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to the east. Ghana gained its independence from the UK in 1957, and the modern name is a reflection of pre-colonial history, when the Empire of Ghana engulfed most of West Africa.

Today, Ghana is ruled by a parliamentary government -- but since independence it has had a series of military and civilian governments. There are 10 regions in the country, each headed by an administrator (the administrator of the region we are visiting will participate in the opening session of our training).

Ghana has recently begun to exploit oil discoveries off its coast, and exports palm oil, gold, timber, cocoa and other minerals. The currency is the Ghana Cedi, roughly equivalent to a dollar during our trip. The country just recently re-denominated its currency, which can be confusing when people and signs refer to 90,000 and they really mean 90 of the new units.

Ghana ranks about 91 of 157 in the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom, and about 29 out of 168 in the Reporters Without Borders index of freedom of the press.

CIA Factbook

connecting with Ghana: first thoughts in Accra

When we arrived at Kotoka International Airport, we were greeted by far too many people.  What I mean is this -- there were a small number of people assigned to greet us, and a larger number -- including some who opportunistically assigned themselves--met us as we came out the doors.  Since Doug was in charge of navigating who was, and who was not, legitimately our transport to the hotel, I simply watched with some amusement.

These men were enterprising, and knew that service was the key.  I actually felt bad about not letting them help me with my luggage!

At the hotel dining room, we learn that this level of service is not universal.  In fact, we unanimously agreed that night that the process of preparing and delivering food to a table of four restaurant customers would be the ideal project management scenario for Fuzz to use in his sessions.  I've lost track of the gap of time between when we sat down and our order was taken, or the longer gap between then and when the first of us received a portion of our order.  It totaled more than 90 minutes.

Our orders were simple: spring rolls, toast, chicken and rice -- dishes that were to become our eating-out staple for the week.  Again, I'm thinking about how we will make the business concepts we've prepared relevant to this culture.  We are participating in globalization, at a micro level.  What will the impact be?  That's a question best revisited after some sleep.  It's been a long 20+ hours of travel and this very firm bed is calling me.

On KLM flight 590

We're on our way! This (in flight somewhere over Canada) is probably a good time to introduce the team of (ad)venture capitalists. I'll include photos as I get them.

Stephen is the most experienced (ad)venture capitalist on the team. This is his fourth trip, and he is the team leader in many respects. To describe Stephen as a genius is probably inadequate, but it's a good starting point. I've known him for about 10 years -- although we've not had a lot of close encounters like the one we're on now. He's an executive at a large, publicly traded firm in the graphic arts industry, where he is responsible for a wide variety of things. He has a disarming smile, a gentle spirit, and a wit that I'm still trying to figure out. And - he knows something about everything. He doesn't flaunt that -- just subtly engages in every topic with a steadily and slowly revealed depth of knowledge.

A genius!

It was in a conversation about weather that I realized just how geeky he really is (and as a geek myself, I use that term with the ultimate of affection and respect!). When checking the weather reports -- Stephen let us know that Chicago would have a lot of precipitation because the Omega Zone -- or was it Omega Field? -- had all the right characteristics.

Doug quipped that Tom Skillings was his source for reliable weather -- and TOM had never mentioned the Omega thing. But, sure enough, it's a real thing up there over our heads. Who'd know? Stephen!

Fuzz is the newest (ad)venture capitalist, and new to me as well. A professional journalist (Chicago bureau chief with one of the largest cable news networks), Fuzz has a rich baritone voice that would easily win him a spot on radio or TV as an anchor. He will be teaching the classes on project management and constructing a business plan. He's also keeping a blog of the trip, which is probably going to be a better reporting of the facts than mine will be. Although an experienced traveler, this is Fuzz's first trip to Africa I think -- and he shares some of my ambiguity about what to expect.

Doug Mann of course, is the "father" of all (ad)venture capitalists.  The founder and president of global business assist, Doug is certainly the most experienced traveler among us.  (He immediately reminded me that I am NOT supposed to take pictures at security areas!) Doug made the initial connections to  set up this training when he first met the leaders of Africa Assistance Plan in 2007.  AAP operates a variety of projects in Ghana, including bore hole drilling, schools, and a highly successful micro-financing program.

Then there's me -- but you know about me, don't you?  A man with too many revenue sources to give a job description! As we boarded the plane, we somehow got on a conversation about how servers could serve both decaf and regular coffee at once if they only had a two-chambered coffee carafe. As everyone (except Doug!) engaged in the conversation during boarding, I noticed that the fellow behind me and the one beside me were a little TOO interested. Turns out they are both engineers.  If you see a Mr. Coffee Twin coming out soon -- remember from whom they stole the idea!

what is an (Ad)venture capitalist? -- a new definition

In the early 1990's, Jim Rogers popularized the term Adventure Capitalist through his book of the same name: a travelogue combined with investment advice, globetrotting, world economic and political commentary -- all focused on the idea of investing in opportunities around the world for personal gain and ROI.

At about the same time, a bit more quietly, Doug Mann of Global Business Assist began developing the concept of adventure capitalist with a decidedly different approach.  For Mann, who was involved first-hand in the humanitarian relief efforts in the Balkans during that period of ethnic cleansing and political-economic chaos, adventure capitalism meant something quite different.

Mann observed that humanitarian efforts that appropriately distributed physical aid in times of crises, were not the right types of efforts for development: people need more than a hand out, they need a hand up.

The gba model is to connect western entrepreneurs and business professionals with entrepreneurs in developing areas of the world -- in ways that empower these emerging entrepreneurs to create sustainable businesses that will not only feed their families, but also contribute to the economic development of their communities, and ultimately their regions & countries.  Western business professionals participate in this vital connection not only through donations to specific empowering projects, including microfinancing and business grants, but also more directly through business training seminars.

In these seminars, western professionals instruct and coach entrepreneurs in everything from bookkeeping to sales, promotion, leadership, and principles of becoming benevolent stewards of economic success.

My journey as an adventure capitalist begins with this kind of seminar -- taught in Sunyani, Ghana.

the (ad)venture of reaching across cultures

I am not really sure what to expect upon arrival in Ghana.  The west African country, a British colony as recently as 50 years ago is a country that is for the most part stable prolifically and economically.

The gba project in Ghana is to train about 40 owners of SME (small-to-medium enterprise) businesses.  The question in my mind, and that I can't seem to find a solid answer for is -- what does a Ghanian SME look like?  At what point does a micro-business (a label that I have seen applied to the owner/operators of marketplace stands selling fruit, vegetables, cloth, etc.) become an SME?  I suppose I will have to find that out once I meet the program participants. :) This uncertainty contributes to some ambiguity as I sit here with the training materials in front of me.  In these next few weeks, we will finalize the reviewing and revising of the material to ensure that we have right-sized it and removed cultural artifacts, jargon, dialectics and metaphors that only an American would understand.  My usual starting place is to consider my audience -- and that is where I am stuck.

The scope of our training is fairly broad.  Before me I have content on basic values that motivate what someone is bound to call a "benevolent entrepreneur".  At the core of the gba training are core values of integrity, honesty, fairness, honoring customers, employees and business partners with respect and love, community services, and acknowledging God's dominion.

Based on these values, the training covers the basics of accounting and cash flow management, budgeting, inventory control, selling, promotion, project management and people management.  Wow.  I am now feeling a bit overwhelmed -- and particularly non-plussed as to how to state these in relevant ways across language, culture and types of business.  I have a feeling I am going to stare at it for a while longer.