My entrepreneurship journey: How I gained the power to create opportunities not just for myself, but also for others

8 minute read

Not knowing what the future held after university, I was determined to forge my own path. Now I’m a successful multi-business owner, selling my products across the world!

My name is Mabruka and I come from the Upper West Region of Ghana. Growing up wasn’t easy. I lost my dad when I was in junior high school. He was the main breadwinner of the family and my mom worked as a small-scale trader. She wanted the best for me, and always said that whatever it would take for her to afford my school going costs, she would do it. So I completed school successfully in 2013, and then I made it to senior high school.

Things continued to be tough for us, as my mom had five children to take care of. Then, in my first year of senior high school, I was selected for CAMFED support. They took care of my needs, paid my school fees, paid for my books, pens, even menstrual products. As a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at CAMFED Ghana I was able to continue to tertiary level. I secured my place at the University of Ghana to read Education and Information Studies.

Following my heart into the world of business

In my country there are so many unemployed young people, so when I started university I was already thinking of business ideas. I didn’t want to complete my studies and find myself without opportunities, and getting into entrepreneurship also meant I could pursue something I was really passionate about.

I started my groundnut processing business, called Influx Groundnuts Products, in January 2019, producing oil, chutney powder, cookies and other snacks. A friend told me about a business competition, which would be awarding promising start-ups with capital. At that stage I didn’t have a proposal, but I did my research and worked hard on my pitch. At the end, mine was one of eight successful businesses, getting recognition in the People’s Choice Award category and as the Overall Winner. With the help of this grant from Golden Palm Investments and another from the Student Representative Council of the University of Ghana, plus some personal savings, I was able to get my enterprise off the ground.

On the left, plowing a groundnut field, and on the right collecting a harvest of groundnuts. (Credit: CAMFED)

I was just in the process of applying for certification through the Food and Drugs Authority when the COVID-19 pandemic started. It meant that I had a lot of time away from university, so I decided to use the period productively. Because of changing customer demand, I started marketing a range of new products including shea butter, black soap, moringa powder, coconut oil, cocoa butter and honey. Then, using social media and my networks, I spread the word as widely as I could.

Soon, through a partnership with Jetstream, a shipping and logistics agency in Tema (a port city in Ghana), I was able to start exporting to countries including Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Eventually I’m hoping to get my products into every single country in the world!

Expanding my businesses with targeted investment

By 2024, I had significantly grown my farm in the Wa East district to over 100 acres (40 hectares) of crops, including groundnuts, soya beans, and maize. I sell groundnuts wholesale to restaurants and suppliers, and use them as the raw product for the food processing side of the business. I also own a restaurant where I serve some of the food grown on my farm.

My shea business — Spill Shea Butter Cooperative, has also gone from strength to strength, and now has a membership of over 350 women from my community. With further investment via CAMFED and the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works initiative, I have built a shea butter processing center and purchased specialist equipment to maintain quality as we scale up production.

Excitingly, we have received CAMFED support to register for Fairtrade certification, with members of the cooperative benefiting from training by the Fairtrade Foundation. We are now fully Fairtrade certified, which brings multiple benefits including international recognition of the Fairtrade brand, and access to a wider range of markets in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Swaziland, and the United Kingdom.

On the left, a display of some of my shea products, and on the right the newly built shea processing center that will help us scale up production. (Credit: Mabruka Mogtari Hamza)

My second passion, giving back!

Business has given me the power to create opportunities not just for myself, but also for others. Now I can provide jobs, support farmers, and contribute to community development. My businesses and cooperative combined have improved the livelihoods of over 400 women, helping them build their own fulfilling and dignified livelihoods. One example is the leader of the shea nut processing, who cares for her late brother’s three children, in addition to her own six children. My business has created a source of income for her, so she’s able to feed her whole family.

I have established a corporate social responsibility initiative, that I call the Influx Foundation, to give back to the community. I also support people around me, including teenage mothers, with technical and vocational skills like baking and dressmaking. With the majority of my employees being women, I want to see an increase in women’s empowerment and participation in agriculture.

I also want to inspire young people to consider agriculture as a viable career option. Many see agriculture as something for the old and they associate it with a tough existence. Through the Influx Foundation, I am helping youths — mainly young women — by providing groundnut seedlings, by plowing the land for them, and by offering mentorship and skills training. That way they will see agriculture as something exciting and see their efforts bear fruits.

I donated desktop computers to a junior high school near my farm, aiming to help students in deprived communities to learn about technology and gain experience using it. (Credit: CAMFED)

Stepping up into a new role as an Agriculture Guide

I have already felt the impact of climate change on my farm, having experienced increasing periods of drought and sudden intense downpours, due to climate change. This has impacted my crops by reducing yields during dry periods and increasing the risk of soil erosion during heavy rains. When the opportunity to train as a CAMFED Agriculture Guide arose, I jumped at the chance. The program — active already in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania — launched for the first time in Ghana in early 2024 to help young women lead action to build community climate resilience, support women’s sustainable agribusiness, and improve food security.

As an Agriculture Guide I will share my knowledge and skills, as well as my own expertise in agribusiness, with other rural young women farmers and community members, helping them to adopt climate-smart farming methods, increase productivity, and adapt to the changing climate.

I’ve adopted soil and water conservation techniques like mulching on my farm, and have started using drought-resistant groundnut varieties. With funding from CAMFED and the Mastercard Foundation, I installed a mechanized borehole and solar panel irrigation. This provides crops with a steady water supply throughout the year, and reduces our reliance on increasingly erratic rainfall. Thanks to these climate-smart methods, I can harvest groundnuts three times per year instead of just one.

Here I am holding a copy of the ‘Agripreneur Journal’, a practical handbook for Agriculture Guides that has been developed in partnership with the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture, universities, research institutions, National Service Scheme, and young women entrepreneurs supported by CAMFED. (Credit: CAMFED)

A lifetime opportunity — joining the CAMFED sisterhood

Being a member of the CAMFED Association has been a lifetime opportunity and has really helped me a lot. I’ve met a lot of like-minded individuals and I’ve also been able to collaborate on new projects and business ideas. I’ve attended several programs organized by CAMFED that have really impacted me. For example, in 2017, I participated in an induction session in Kumasi, where I learnt about how to manage your time and your budget. Then in 2019 I joined some training in Komenda through the Transition Program and learned how to do bookkeeping, how to manage risks in businesses, how to manage stress, and how to look after and retain customers. Through the sisterhood I’ve also made a lot of friends — with young women I really want to follow and work alongside.

I was so proud to graduate from university in January 2022. (Credit: CAMFED)

To be successful in life you really need to be determined. You have to be committed to what you are doing, you have to be honest and you have to have a high level of integrity. To be successful in business you also need to be innovative and creative because other people are going to have similar business ideas. So work on your product, your branding, and try to stand out.

Effective communication has also been important to me, to help keep my team engaged on our weekly objectives and help us finish our stocks ahead of time. I always have that zeal for taking on new projects or challenges!

My biggest achievement in life is that I’ve been able to create a business idea, nurture it, and grow it. I’m proud that it’s served as a source of employment and income for people in my community. It was because of that that I received recognition from the Young Africa Chief Executive Directors Network in 2019 for exemplary works and contribution to the economic development of Africa.