Daniel Amoako Antwi
Story by Helenah Swedberg and Fungai Tanya Chimbuya, Gather Reporter for Africa; photos by Kate Carlton
It’s empty and quiet inside the bright white wooden church in central Accra, Ghana. Daniel Amoako Antwi stands in the middle of the aisle, leaning against one of the red chairs. This is his place to reflect and think outside his busy work life. “Every business needs a fundamental blueprint, beyond yourself,” he says, confirming why social values and impact are at the heart of his business mindset. The spark ignited by the JA Company Program well over a decade ago eventually led him to start the social entrepreneurship hub he runs today, only a few blocks away from his church.
Daniel joined JA in high school in 2004, and his JA company team decided to sell sport products. The sport teams of central Ghana were very competitive, and several schools were bitter rivals. There was a high demand for merchandise with team names and colors. But Daniel’s JA company had no initial funds to start production, so they began selling shares to raise money. As the team’s marketing officer, Daniel went around to classrooms, dining halls, dorms, prep time, and even games, where he would pitch their company to crowds as large as 1,000 people.
“I learned to speak in front of a large audience at an early age,” he says. “Being in JA taught me to persuade and convince people.”
After university, he spent a few years in corporate positions at Guinness and Hewlett Packard before he and a colleague decided to branch out on their own and start a software company together. “We rented a big office and bought everything we needed, but we didn’t know how to code,” he says. “We hired people we thought were good at IT, and all our money went to rent and salaries. We thought it was cool to say that we had our own business, but at the same time, we could barely afford rent.”
In an unexpected twist, they stumbled upon the opportunity to organize the first TEDx Ghana in 2014, the first of many they would organize, opening a door into a community of social entrepreneurs. But after recruiting volunteers for events, it became clear to them that young people were lacking fundamental work skills, like organization, data collection, and presentation. Employment is one of the biggest challenges for young people in Africa, with an unemployment rate hovering around 20% and about 10 million students graduating from African universities each year unable to find jobs. And that was pre-COVID-19.
“The more we learned about the skills gap,” Daniel says, “the more we wanted to do something about it.” So Daniel and his teammates created a bridge Internship program to prepare students for work. Africa Skills Hub is a youth employment and business incubator that aims to groom Africa’s next generation through hands-on learning and coaching tools, delivered online and offline using the Career Pathways Module, which includes a combination of digital, leadership, and entrepreneurial skills.
““JA shaped my thinking and narrative. It was one of the best experiences of my life.””
In 2020, COVID-19 moved the program entirely to a digital platforms and launched a number of new features, such as “Ask HR,” during which experts share insights into the new normal around employability and help young people prepare for what’s next.
Daniel’s achievements haven’t gone unnoticed: He has been a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeeper, was chosen as a UNDP Africa Youth Connekt Fellow, was listed as one of the top 10 Global Changers in Education by TEDx, and has been selected as the brand ambassador for the UN #Togetherband.