ENTREPRENEUR WATCH
Ambition and reward – the story of Baba Yabdow
Baba Yabdow, the CEO of Yabco Focus Company Ltd, is a former accountant whose passion for entrepreneurship made him resign from his work to set up a fruit processing factory which has now become one of the most successful businesses in the Upper East Region.
Baba Yabdow, is a native of Walewale, Northern Region of Ghana. He is a certified chartered accountant from the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana. After his tertiary education, he was employed by the Controller and Accountant General’ s Department in 1994. He was then posted to the Upper East Region office as a Regional Accountant and progressed to the rank of a Deputy Regional Director. He was later posted to the Ministry of Youth and Sports as the Chief Internal Auditor.
Against this background, everyone will expect a man with such a secured and lucrative career to be satisfied with life and wait till he retires and enjoy his retirement package. But such was not the case with Baba Yabdow. He still felt a sense of emptiness within him. Why?“ Civil service was not what I really wanted. I was passionate about creating my own business and providing jobs for people. So, I was not satisfied with being a civil servant. Something within me felt I should resign and do my own business.”
Entrepreneurial journey begins
While still an employee at the Ministry, he was able to raise some money and established a car washing bay. The business was growing but he didn’ t want to combine working in the government sector with his private business. Finally, he resigned in 2008 to focus on his car wash business. The next year, 2009, he added
24 Business Times Africa | 2016