Louis Amenyo Adanuty (fourth from left) with his Ghanaian counterparts and others, after being named the 2023 African Tech Business Leader at the TICON Africa Conference in Entebbe, Uganda.
Growing up, Louis Amenyo Adanuty wanted to become a medical professional. However, his life took an unexpected turn when financial constraints compelled him to explore other options. Today, he has built one of the fast-growing software development companies and fintech startups in the country. Weeks after being conferred with the 2023 Tech Business Leader award at the inaugural TICON Africa Conference in Uganda, he briefly shares his journey into the IT space in a conversation with Freelance Journalist, Pearl Akanya Ofori.
What inspired you to join the Tech world?
Interestingly, this was not something I had initially planned to do. I always imagined myself in the medical field, which even led me to study science at Bishop Herman Senior High School in the Volta Region. Even though I excelled in my final exams, my family couldn’t afford the admission forms to the University, so I abandoned that dream and decided to work to support myself.
I relocated to Accra and worked at a pharmacy as a dispensing officer and a computer technician for over three years. But before I started working, I enrolled in a short course in computer hardware engineering just to while away time after secondary school. That was when I had my first contact with computers. At the pharmacy, some of the customers would bring their laptops for me service. Here, I met a computer programmer whom I would say left an indelible imprint on my life. He informed me about an IT consultancy job at the World Bank. With my limited IT experience, he helped me to apply and to my surprise, I got the job. It was simply a miracle and that for me was a major turning point in my life.
How did your experience at the World Bank shape your life?
I was 24 years when I started working as an IT Consultant at the World Bank. I spent the first six months in the USA and returned to Ghana to complete the rest of my contract. Working with the firm for two years bolstered my confidence and made me a bit financially stable. It was during this period that I developed so much interest in IT.
With the experience I gained and the knowledge I acquired, I felt the need to abandon my earlier aspirations and just go into IT. TekSol and Eganow emerged from that experience. My time at the World Bank also influenced my decision to register for a degree program in Information and Communication Technology at the Ghana Institute of Management in Public Administration (GIMPA) when I came back to Ghana.
Tell us about TekSol
TekSol is a software development company focused on financial technology which I set up in 2009. It was formerly known as Softpro Consult. I literally started the company from my friend’s dining table with just one laptop, working on software solutions for Freight Forwarders and Microfinance Companies in Ghana.
When the company started growing, I felt the need to acquire more knowledge, so I returned to GIMPA for my MBA in Finance. In 2014, the small team I had worked with me to develop an investment and fund management software for Ghana’s investment banking sector. It was called FundPlus.
At that time, foreign companies had taken over this market so the local solution we provided was timely and helped the country a lot. We made headlines, and this was really encouraging.
Soon, we started serving institutions like the Ghana Armed Forces, UMB Capital, IFS Financial Services, SIC Financial Services, Blue Finance, and NDK Capital, among others.
Every business is not immune to challenges. What were your peculiar challenges when you started your company and how did you handle them?
Yes, every company has its own challenges from little to no capital when you are starting, just name it. We have had our own share of issues but what I always remember is the 2019 financial sector cleanup in Ghana and the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact on our business was unimaginable. We lost seventy percent of our clients and millions of cedis.
Lack of funds made it difficult for me to pay my staff on time, but they stayed with me; none of them left the company during this challenging season. We could have allowed what happened to discourage us, but we remained focused and established Eganow in 2020, the fintech arm of TekSol. Eganow is going to be a game-changer in the fintech space. It’s already registered in the USA and the UK, and expanding into Cote D’Ivoire, and other parts of Africa.
Could you highlight some of the notable achievements and awards that your company has earned?
For two consecutive years, in 2018 and 2019, TekSol made it onto the “Ghana Club100” list, which is a yearly official list of the top 100 companies in Ghana. This award, organized by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, is given to companies making great strides in their various sectors. I was also named the Outstanding Software Entrepreneur by the Entrepreneurs Association of Ghana during that period.
In 2022, I was selected to participate in an Accelerator program for Black tech founders which was organized by 1000 Black Voices in collaboration with the UK Department of Trade. Just a year later, in 2023, I received the African Tech Business Leader award at the first-ever Technology Information Confederation Africa (TICON Africa) Conference in Entebbe, Uganda.
In retrospect, are you happy you never entered the medical profession?
Yes, if someone had told me years back that I would make an impact in the tech space, I wouldn’t have believed it. But my company is growing, and my staff is part of my success story. Without them I wouldn’t be here, and it’s incredible to think that with just one laptop and what I call a one-man operation when I started, TekSol now boasts a staff strength of more than thirty-six, and we’re still expanding. As they say, never give up.
Where do you envision TekSol and Eganow to be in the next few years?
My answer is really short: A global brand.
CEO of TekSol and Eganow, Louis Amenyo Adanuty
What would be your advice to young entrepreneurs?
Just a few words. Never despise humble beginnings, and in the face of obstacles on your way to the top, avoid giving up too easily. Instead, find ways to navigate around these challenges, learn valuable lessons from them, and harness that knowledge to your advantage. The journey to the top is not easy but you must remain undaunted.