From electrician to business owner – A pandemic story

Ebenizer

Before COVID-19 hit Ghana in March 2020, Ebenezer and his then pregnant wife – Comfort Asamaning -survived with the income from his electric shop, which he had established with his first loan from VisionFund Ghana. When the country went into lockdown, Ebenezer revealed in an interview that he felt like he had reached a dead-end in his life. Because of the economic downturn, Ebenezer suffered losses; patronage of electric materials dropped.

To keep up with the changing economic trends or perish with the pandemic, Ebenezer consulted his loan officer for a second cycle loan. He had a vision of starting a mini-grocery shop, since essential commodities kept people under lockdown going. With the loan approved, he used it to extend the electric shop into a mini-grocery shop (popularly known as Provision Shop in Ghana). The decision to switch course sustained his livelihood.

“I would have lost my dignity in my family if I had stayed under the dictate of the pandemic,” he recounted during an interview. Slowly and steadily, the government of Ghana eased the restrictions, and by this time Ebenezer had finished with his loan repayment. However, he was not stopping there; he had an eye on a commercial single glass door refrigerator, which he purchases with a third cycle loan, adding to the list of physical assets of his business.

By the end of May 2021, Ebenezer had applied for his fourth cycle loan and had started a mobile money service and a “BREAD HUB” (the idea was to retail fresh bread from various bakers in the municipality in large quantities). He allowed his wife to manage that section of his growing empire.

With the right financial tools provided by VisionFund Ghana, he survived the shaken economy: transforming from a nearly unemployed electrician to a steady, growing businessperson.

“It’s VisionFund, they understood my vision”; he concluded in an interview. Ebenezer is hopeful about the future of his little empire; and aims at venturing into agriculture with his next loan.

 

Photo and story by Abban Enoch Johnson