African Engineers: Joseph Barimah Kwako

Website design By BotEap.comThe story of Joseph Barimah Kwako illustrates one of the fundamental principles of technology transfer to small businesses in developing countries: technical knowledge is important but entrepreneurial enthusiasm is essential. Even before the founding of the Technology Consultancy Center (TCC) in January 1972, a group of engineers from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, had established a project to demonstrate improved technology for producing bolts and nuts. of steel. and they were introducing it to artisans in Ghana’s largest informal industrial area, Suame Magazine. A production unit on the university campus operated successfully for several years and many craftsmen were trained in the new technology, but it was only after Joseph Kwako came on the scene that the technology was successfully transferred to the private sector.

Website design By BotEap.comIn a Suame Magazine survey in 1971, KNUST engineers discovered that large amounts of steel bolts and nuts were used in the construction of wooden bodies for trotros (privately owned public transportation vehicles based on old truck chassis Bedford) and cocoa trucks (freight transport). vehicles) and these were produced locally by central blacksmiths and turners. The quality of bolts and nuts was poor and the production rate was slow. KNUST engineers decided to introduce a new technology based on the use of capstan (turret) winches and, with a grant from the Barclays Bank International Development Fund, a pilot production unit was established.

Website design By BotEap.comThe TCC opened a commercially operating Steel Bolt Production Unit (SBPU) on the KNUST campus in January 1973. Production continued uninterrupted until the SBPU moved to the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit (ITTU) in Suame Magazine in August 1980. By that time, the SBPU had produced and sold more than 200,000 sets of bolts and nuts, provided 80 man-years of employment, and trained 50 craftsmen in all basic skills: lathe and milling operations of capstan and die forged. Despite raw material supply problems and the availability of imported tools, production was maintained and costs recovered. However, the profit margin was low and no private company could be persuaded to adopt the new technology.

Website design By BotEap.comJoseph Barimah Kwako came to TCC in the mid-1970s looking for a product to sell. He had trained as a pharmaceutical technician, but as wages increasingly dipped in purchasing power, he left his position at Mbrom Hospital in Kumasi to seek his fortune as a self-employed trader. Joseph was shown all the products he had introduced into the TCC: soap, cloth, honey, paper glue, Afro wigs, steel bolts and nuts, and other engineering products, etc. He set off with a few samples, promising to do his best to find new markets to further encourage local production.

Website design By BotEap.comWhen he returned a few weeks later, Joseph brought an order for a number of steel bolts and nuts. He at first just said they were for a client in Accra. His visits became more frequent and the size of the orders grew, until there came a point where Joseph asked his client, Kofifo Boatbuilding Co. Ltd. for help transporting the shipments. This newly established company was building ocean-going fishing boats from 20 meters in the old port of Accra, used only for fishing since the construction of the modern port in Tema, 30 kilometers to the east. Kofifo stated that the availability of locally produced steel fasteners, manufactured to their requirements with short lead times, was essential to the success of their business.

Website design By BotEap.comSBPU products were sold to Suame Magazine lumber coachbuilders, roof framing builders, and farmers for gate and fence construction, but it was the fishing boat industry that turned out to be the largest. , lucrative and reliable. market. Locally produced fasteners could not compete on price with foreign-made products, and when credit facilities permitted importation, the SBPU concentrated on niche markets with special requirements and left the general market for standard products to importers. . In the 1970s and early 1980s, however, there were long periods when imported products were not available and local manufacturers had the entire market to themselves.

Website design By BotEap.comJoseph Kwako’s steel bolt and nut trade continued for two years before he went to the TCC with a new application. Saying that he had accumulated a large sum of capital from the trade, he asked if he could be helped to set up his own nut and bolt production unit. It was pointed out to him that a lot of technical knowledge was needed and that he did not have an engineering background. He insisted that he had sufficient funds to purchase the necessary used machine tools that TCC was importing to establish four private production units. He proposed to acquire the necessary technical knowledge by teaching his son at the SBPU and offering employment to some of the young people who had already completed his training. Impressed by his enthusiasm, the TCC included Joseph Kwako in the next phase of the technology transfer program.

Website design By BotEap.comFour private companies started the production of steel bolts and nuts in Kumasi in 1979. Three were owned and operated by trained engineering technicians and one by a pharmaceutical technician turned trader. Needless to say, it was Joseph Barimah Kwako who during the following years achieved the greatest commercial success and the fastest rate of expansion of his business.