I was born on the 10th of February, 1992, 24 years ago in Asokore-Koforidua, in the eastern region of Ghana, located in the New Juaben North Constituency. I come from a family of seven and my parents are Mr. Marcus Aboagye and Mrs. Doris Agyeibea, who stay also in Asokore-Koforidua in Ghana. I have lived with my parents in Asokore-Koforidua, about 4 miles away from the main Koforidua central market with house number ASK/D4. Our building is just adjacent to the main Asokore mosque.

I started my primary education at Prince of Peace Preparatory School in the year 1995 and continued my secondary school in Ghana Senior High School. God was truthful to me, even though I had very tough times pursuing my education. After completion, I came out with excellent grades but needed to hold on for some time before pursing my tertiary education because I had no funds.

As I wait to enter university, I started a wood and logs business to raise some money to start my tertiary education and also serve as a means of sustaining me successfully through my tertiary education. By the grace of God and the input received from team Zidisha, I have been able to successively manage this business for some time now.

I was enrolled in the University of Ghana to pursue a degree in B.Sc. in Dietetics, but I still managed my wood business because it had been my source of revenue for my education.

Currently, I have graduated with a degree in Dietetics and I am undertaking my internship in the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and still managing my business. I am not married yet but have plans to do so some years later.

My business started five years ago. Previously I used to transport wood logs from the forest to the marketplaces to sell, and after sometime, I decided to set up a unit to store the logs and process them into furnished goods for customers to purchase directly.

I purchased some wood processing equipment, which was quite expensive, but because there was not enough capital, I purchased the very necessary machines with hopes that I could stock the unit with time. Currently, I have been able to buy some of these equipment I couldn’t buy previously.

My business has seen increment[al increases] in the number of logs I could buy and the amount I could process daily as well as the equipment. Currently, I supply some of these processed wood slates to companies, contractors, and many of the local people for building and furniture.

I supply about 12 communities with my products (slates of wood logs) for their constructional works and furniture. On average, I am able to sell 80 slates of the wood to each community every week. This means I am able to sell on average 960 slates sold in a week to these suppliers in the communities. I also supply on average 800 slates of processed woods to companies and contractors in a week. This means on average I am able to sell 1600 slates of processed woods to the communities and contractors.

Each slate of wood cost 1.80 dollars (7 Ghana cedis), which means I make a sale of $2,880.00 dollars (when 1600 pieces of the slates are sold in the week) and an average of $11,000.00 dollars monthly.

Money gained after the expenses are deducted is used to plough back into the business. Previous loans received from Zidisha have been very instrumental in my business and help to reduce the burden to raising capital for my input. I aim at increasing my loan limit to receive very huge loans from Zidisha. Thank you.

I will purchase wood logs from my suppliers and distribute them to the contractors, individuals, and communities I supply. I will also use some of the loan to process the logs into finished products such as furniture and building materials. Many of these local people use these furnished slates for housing, whiles others use it for charcoal.

With reference to the communities I supply, I now supply about 20 communities on average with the processed woods. About 80-100 of the wood slates are sold in each community every week. This will imply that close to 1500 of the slates could be sold to the communities, while about 500-1000 of the slates are sold to these contractors and companies I supply. On the total, about 2000 of the slates are sold every week.

Currently, each slate goes for 1.75 dollars (7 Ghana cedis). As I invest this loan into the buying the materials for this work, I make money every week to repay my loan. The profit is used to repay the workers, pay off some bills, and donate for community development.

Some of the loan will as well be used to service some of our faulty machines to work effectively and produce better results, while other processing machines will be bought to replace the spoilt ones.

I have a great vision to expand my business and impact life greatly, and I will be forever grateful if this loan is funded, as it was for my other previous loan. Thank you.