Buspreneur interview with Samuel Osam Kyemenu-Sarsah

Samuel Osam Kyemenu-Sarsah is a MEST fellow who humbly calls himself an aspiring entrepreneur. Having been involved in Google’s first ever Online Marketing Lab and working with international companies, makes Kyemenu-Sarsah an entrepreneur to be watched!

1. Who are you? Describe yourself in 3 sentences.
   I am a 24 year old Ghanaian entrepreneur in training, best described by the words ‘passionate’ and ‘persistent’. I strongly believe in the need to leverage technology to build solutions for African problems. My aspiration is to build a globally successful software company that not only solves specific problems on this continent but also creates employment opportunities and serves as a role model for the next generation of entrepreneurs.
2. What do you expect from your participation on the bus?
   My greatest expectation for StartupBus Africa is to meet like-minded entrepreneurs from different backgrounds who are also passionate about building solutions for Africa. I am looking forward to contributing to the products and solutions that will be created within the 5-day period. Mostly, I’m excited to see how those solutions will be applied not only in the South African region but in other parts of Africa too.
3. Why Africa? Why now?
   The statistics speak for themselves: high growth in the African mobile sector, increasing internet penetration and the proliferation of smart devices all indicate the preparedness of Africa to embrace technology-based solutions. On a personal level, I feel there are more opportunities to collaborate with like-minded people in the technology space through events like StartupBus and incubators like MEST in Accra and the iHub in Nairobi.
4. What is your area of expertise — mobile development, healthcare, or the energy sector? Please talk a little bit about how you gained this expertise…
   My areas of expertise are primarily in web development technologies, business development and online marketing. I have worked on a number of start-ups targeting the events industry, the fashion Industry and news aggregation. I have experience running online marketing campaigns and I was part of Google’s first ever Online Marketing Lab. I also have some experience in the clean energy sector after building a product for a wind energy company in the U.S.A.
5. Please share an idea for a technology (mobile, health, energy) that can solve a problem/s local to the South African region.
   An online health assistance portal built on local payment systems that utilises the expertise of certified health professionals who would engage with the product. This app will enable widespread access to health advice via mobile phones at a much-reduced cost to patients.
6. Everyone has a special story. What is yours?
   My story is not just mine; it is the story of several young people in Ghana, and to a larger extent, Africa. These young people and I have seen the enormous potential this continent holds and the need to foster that potential to create something amazing. I am also fortunate enough to have spent the past year and a half at MEST, an incredible post-graduate program and incubator which provides training, investment and mentoring for aspiring entrepreneurs in the software industry. MEST has a goal of helping these entrepreneurs create globally successful companies, and to a larger extent, transforming Africa into the next hub for software development.
7. Are you sponsoring yourself or do you have sponsors? Please tell us about your sponsors…
   As a young African entrepreneur in training, my ability to sponsor a trip of this magnitude is limited. I have begun collecting donations via my GoFundMe campaign and I intend to pitch to additional sponsors to help cover any remaining costs following the campaign. If anyone would like to contribute, I would very much appreciate the support!