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A Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, has challenged Ghanaian youth to take a cue from the inspiring entrepreneurial story of the Chairman of the Bamson Group of Companies, Mr Kwame Ofosu Bamfo.

“Kwame and his type of business people are the ones Africa is yearning for; private sector entrepreneurs who are not seeking ways to take advantage of weak capacities of African state institutions and the frailties of politicians and bureaucrats to obtain contracts that are inflated, not executed or poorly executed and taking advantage of political patronage to siphon scarce resources from the public treasury,” he said.

On a glittering night spiced with music, food, glowing tributes and awards to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Bamson Group of Companies last Friday, Dr Chambas said the Bamson-Sikkens success story in Ghana was worthy of research by the country’s business schools as a case study.

In all, 11 companies and 12 employees of the Bamson Group were honoured for their contribution to the success story of the company.
Business with integrity

Dr Chambas, who was the guest speaker for the occasion, observed that Mr Bamfo’s story was an inspiring one that needed to be told many times to inspire and motivate the country’s young people to emulate his shining example.

“What is remarkable about Kwame is that he has not allowed his success story to get into his head.

He has remained humble, approachable by all and generous to a fault. I have lost count of how many times I have been approached to seek his support for a charitable cause. And I cannot remember a single time he has declined,” he added.

Dr Chambas, who is also the Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa, stated that Mr Bamfo had been among the crème de la crème of Ghanaian societal and sports leaders whose spreadsheets and bottom-lines had been underpinned by integrity and transparency.

“Through Bamson, Sikkens and now Alisa Hotels, he continues to create wealth, jobs, results, positive impact on many lives, opportunities and demonstrate corporate social responsibility and above all, high ethical, personal and business standards,” he added.
A dream born

Recalling what has become today’s success, the celebrated business leader said in 1983, he was employed as a sales attendant in his father’s shop at Kantamanto, where he sold decorative paints.

“I was looking for an opportunity to break out on my own. Every now and then we sold Sikkens paint and it moved very fast from the shelves,” he stated.

When the opportunity came for him to be on his own, Mr Bamfo decided not to sell the GIHOC decorative paints his father was trading in but rather found the address of Sikkens paints on one of the containers and wrote to the company.

A response came and he received an invitation to Holland. His first orders came in February 1984. By the end of that year, he had gone on business trips to Holland six times. In 1985, he was made the local representative of the company when the Dutch company’s contract with another local company, Reiss & Co, expired.

That was the beginning of the company that now has more than five million people using Sikkens paints to spray their cars, 10,000 trained sprayers locally and employs 120 people in seven branches.
The Bamson secret

Apart from the Sikkens BV of Holland, his family, employees and clients, he attributed his success story to quality service.

“The key to the success of every company is quality service. This is what we have been doing for the past 30 years and we will continue to do so with passion to retain Bamson and Sikkens at the top of the industry ladder,” Mr Bamfo said.

Over the last 30 years, he has received numerous awards, including the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Marketing Personality of the Year in 1991 and the AKZO-Nobel International Award for Best Sales Company of Sikkens products in Africa in 2000 — a Millennium Excellence Award Industry Category.

Mr Hans Schrama, the AKZO-Nobel/Sikkens BV Area Manager for Africa, who chronicled Mr Bamfo’s long history with the company, said it was rare to find such long-lasting partnerships in Africa.