AYE Blogs

Curbing Child Marriage by Providing Equal Access to Education

In February 2016, Ghana launched its campaign to end child marriage. According to UNICEF data, as of 2015 Ghana's national child marriage rate was at 21 percent. This data represents a 4 percent decrease from 2013. The legal age for marriage in Ghana is 18 however, with parental consent children can get married as young as 16. As a 31 year old I often wonder if I'm ready for the commitment of marriage; I know for a fact know that my sixteen...| Read more...

From Gods, Guts to Science: The Golden Era of Data Analytics In Decision-Making (Part I: What's the Craze?)

The chief role of executives has always been to make decisions but this function has been executed differently at different eras of history. In the times preceding the seventeenth century, when human understanding of numbers was frail if at all, decisions were based on faith, hope and guesswork (see HBR article, A Brief History of Decision-Making by Leigh Buchanan & Andrew O'Connell). It was not uncommon for people to bank their fates on the presumed telegnosis of the stars, oracles, priests, and other cultic bodies. However, as our knowledge in numeral...| Read more...

Always go for Gold

Great Minds of Tomorrow (I call you so because you truly are the ideas of the future), if you had the choice to embark on one of the following journeys, which one would you choose? A simple, direct and short journey that promises to return you safely, unscathed, and the same as you were before; or a long winding yet transformational journey with possibility of slips and falls? You may disagree with me but I argue that you should always take the long and winding one. You know why? Simply because there’d always be another journey and the long winding journey will be a rich source of experiential wisdom to draw from. Like the timelessly phenomenal band—the Beatles—once sang, the long and winding road never disappears...| Read more...

AYE's Executive Director Speaks At CEA Fundraising Gala

Let me begin by saying thank you to Oumou Cherif and her team for putting such a fantastic event together. What makes it even more relevant is the fact that proceeds raised from this event will go to Kindea, Guinea, to support underprivileged kids whose potential can be honed by access to quality education.

As midnight struck on March 5, 1957 and the Gold Coast became Ghana, the first President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah reminded Africa of the need to be our sibling’s keeper. He said, “We are going to see that we create our own African personality and identity. We again rededicate ourselves in the struggle to emancipate other countries in Africa; for our independence is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of the African continent...| Read more...

A Journey Home: In Pursuit of Corporate Africa

“I will move back to Ghana one day,” is what I occasionally told friends and coworkers every time we engaged in a conversation about the motherland. Since my first visit in 2007, after living abroad for 17 years, there had been a desire to return home. A desire that burned even more after learning of ample opportunities. Although, I was never too sure when “someday” would come, I knew it was just a matter of time. Luckily, it came about sooner than anyone, including myself, could have anticipated.

It was the second quarter of 2012 when I made the decision to return to my homeland; a decision, which took very little time to consider because my mind had been made up long ago. After eight years as a human resource professional, working for the largest private owned condominiums in the United States, and ten years as an expert marketer | Read more...

The Case for Dream Chasing – Part One

Suspend your reality for a moment and picture that your hopes, dreams, and aspirations were plucked from your brain; melted down, and molded into the shape of a cup. Yes, a cup. Now imagine that every morning as the sun rises, life comes to either pour or spill blessings into your cup. Now imagine if in accordance with your personal investment of time and effort; your opportunities, hopes, and dreams, will either pour into (the blessings in life) or spill out of (your negative consequences) your cup. Whether it be financial security, a death in the family, career opportunities, your health, or major life changes; your cup is consistently being filled or emptied throughout your life. | Read more...