BA: Please tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get to this point?
TS: Normally, when I get this question, ‘Tell us a little about yourself’, I find it to be a broad topic of discussion. However, I’ll try answering it anyway. My name is Tonyi Senayah. I’m Ghanaian and I currently run Horseman Shoes. I attended Prempeh College in Kumasi. Later, I went to the University of Ghana where I read Sociology. This usually surprises people because me doing what I do now confuses people when they try to connect it to my educational background. People usually think that I should have been a product of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (K.N.U.S.T.) where they do more of the arts and crafts. However, as fate would have it I went to University of Ghana, Legon, and after that I did my national service here, in Accra. Then, in 2009, I started Horseman Shoes. Initially, I purchased the shoes from international manufacturers, then, in 2010, I set up my own workshop.
BA: How did Horseman shoes start and what were the most important factors that drove you to start?
TS: Well, I believe every individual has a vision. Leaving school, I had always wanted to do something that was ‘human-related’ in terms of development. One thing I knew I couldn’t do was working in a setting like in a bank or an insurance firm. I told myself that one day, I would build a huge vocational institute to train street children. So, starting Horseman was something that came a bit earlier than I thought it would. I lived with a man who was manufacturing ‘made-in-Ghana’ shoes. I ordered a pair of shoes from him. I wore them to work and my colleagues were very surprised that I could afford them as national service personnel. Then, I realised that such a venture had potential.
So, my colleagues started ordering the shoes and after my service people still called me enquiring about the shoes. At that juncture, I told myself that was the beginning of the vision I had had ever since I was young. It then dawned on me that there were a lot of young Ghanaians who were doing very well in their various trades in terms of craftsmanship; tailors, shoemakers, but no one heard about them. Thus, I decided to start with shoemaking (Horseman Shoes) to make commercial viability out of such skilled youth and to push them to the limit i.e. producing quality shoes which would compete successfully on the market. That was the beginning of Horseman Shoes, it was hinged on creating employment for the young Ghanaian and secondly, introducing a product ‘made by us for us’ in order to move consumers away from the patronage of second- hand products. I thought that if we had people here producing equally good shoes, why would we patronize pre used footwear from Europe and China? That was the beginning of Horseman Shoes.
BA: You are a young professional already making waves and flapping your wings in Ghana and in the business world. What advice do you have for youth who feel marginalised in this continent?
TS: I am a positive thinker and I believe in self-motivation. If you listen to people who have made waves in entrepreneurship and in their various fields of endeavour, you’ll find that nothing was bestowed on them. They initiated their own success through hard work. It’s also about developing self-confidence. If you are a young person and you have an idea, just pursue it. The most important thing to overcome is self-doubt. Once that barrier is overcome, everything else will fall in place.
BA:How do you suggest that one develops the self-confidence you speak of, if he or she does not have it at all?
TS: Recognising that you don’t have it at all is a step forward, in my opinion. You can attend programmes and associate with people who can help you. You can also read and watch movies. Association with the right people, reading good books and giving yourself the necessary exposure-those are the most important things. One must develop the right attitude.
BA: This links in very well with our next question. What is your vision for the future of the continent?
TS: This is a very interesting question because I have this conversation, every so often, with other young people all over the continent. I am very hopeful, however looking at the current situation on the continent I feel despair rather than hope. Nobody can change the continent only we can. We have left everything in the hands of governments and politicians and I must say that they have woefully failed us. It is up to us, as individuals, to change the continent. In other words let us ‘brighten our little corner’. This will eventually build up to the point where all of our little corners are leading to our whole continent blossoming. It is then that the African continent will shine again but if we wait every four years to go the polls to vote for leaders who promise change and do much worse, we will never make any progress. I believe that it is the individual struggle that will take the African continent forward. I think that it is high time that we, ordinary people take on the mantle of leadership in this challenge.
BA:It is amazing to hear that you believe in so much that the continent has to offer and you believe in the power of each and every one of us but now let’s come to the drawing board, back to Horseman Shoes. Let’s fast forward, ten years from now, where will Horseman Shoes be and how will you have advanced this continent through Horseman Shoes?
Tonyi Senayah is the CEO of Horseman Shoes. Butterfly Africa caught up with him to find out his vision for the African continent.
Horsepower! An interview with Tonyi Senayah
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