Senaya Edem Kwasi is my name. I am a Ghanaian and comes from Ho, in the Volta Region. I was brought up in the village until I was about 12 years old before my father brought me to the city to be educated. Thus, I started my education at the age of 12 years. I was a little matured for my class but have to cope. When I got to stage 5, my father asked me to stop schooling and learn fitting (Mechanic). He gave me two options as to whether I would want to become an apprentice mechanic or go to school and leave his house! I chose the latter and had to be on the streets working whilst having education on my mind. I did that for some time, gather some money and then travel to Benin in order to pursue more menial works. During this time, I have been saving judiciously so as to continue my education. 

I enrolled in a private school to complete my primary education after some periods of hardwork. I enrolled in stage 6. After completion of primary education, I then enrolled for Junior high school education which is three years in Ghana. The only way to work my way through is to be working whilst going to school and studies became very difficult because I am always tired at the end of the day. Luckily for me, I had a penpal from Canada who decided to sponsor my education and I had to study hard. I sat for the final exams in the second year, came out as the second best student and had admission to read science at the secondary school level. I had my secondary education at Mawuli Senior High School in Ho. 

I sat for the final exams which is the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations and came out with a very good result which led to my gaining admission to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi to read Civil Engineering. 

Financial burdens at the university in the first year was very tough for me until I had a full scholarship. The scholarship was offered to me by Educational Pathways International (www.educationalpathwaysinternational.org) after I have applied and attended an interview. It made life a little easier for me and I had to study hard in order not to be taken off the scholarship. By God’s grace, I graduated from the University with a second class upper honors degree in Civil Engineering. I graduated from the university at the age of 28 years! I did the compulsory national service and have gotten a job with a Chinese company where I worked for about four months. 

I am a determined person and always pursue my dreams till the finish line. 

It has been my desire to make life a little easier and create opportunities for people around me. So with this in mind coupled with the high unemployment rate in Ghana, I have decided to form my own construction company. It has been duly registered and I have obtained license for operation last year. The name of my company is Conciv Engineering Limited. Conciv is currently in operation but on sub contract basis.

Conciv Engineering Limited (CEL) is a construction company formed in the year 2015. The main idea behind the formation of this firm is to provide employment to the many unemployed youth in Ghana and also bring relief to others by providing them with quality services at an affordable prices. 

The mission statement of CEL is : To become the number one construction and infrastructure development company in Ghana, a national player who safely, profitably and sustainably delivers best-in-class integrated services, products and solutions to meet our client’s needs.

The vision statement of CEL is: Bridging the infrastructural development gap between the rural and urban centers.

CEL intends to provide infrastructural development mainly to the rural and peri-urban areas of the country. Several of the rural areas in Ghana are faced with very challenging issues in terms of infrastructure and it breaks my heart when I travel out of the city and meet some of this developmental trail. To realize the vision of CEL of bridging the infrastructural development gap between the rural areas and the urban centres, CEL intends to and has begun carrying out research in rural areas about the infrastructure that is needed and how it will benefit the said community. 

Some of the communities visited do not have schools! The children therefore have to walk for long distances before getting access to education. It is interesting to know that, all these children with lack of these facilities compete with the children in the urban centres for the same examinations. The results coming from these rural folks is nothing to write home about and the least said about them the better. 

I know the value of education through my personal struggle to get myself educated. I therefore want to in my own way give others the same opportunity by providing them with these infrastructure.

After carrying out a research and coming out with a solution. CEL then carry out all the designs involved and the cost of providing that infrastructure. From there, then we raise funds from the public to carry out the construction. Most of these rural areas have big firms that are operating there such as the oil industry, mining industries amongst others. We intend getting in touch with them to provide funds for this development.

There are different sides of this coin! Doing this will create employment to others and also providing the community with something valuable. 

I believe that, the beginning of everything is not easy and there must be sacrifices. I therefore intend to use my salary from my current employment to repay this loan. It is difficult raising capital for a startup business but I am very confident to be able to raise capital through Zidisha in order to realize my dreams. 

CEL have bid for projects and have won a couple of them but do not have the pre-financing ability to finance it. I am optimistic that, I will be able to build a startup capital for my construction company through partnership with Zidisha lenders. 

You can look at some of our activities on facebook by liking our page just by typing Conciv Engineering Limited or using the handle @Conciv2015. 

Dear All,

I completed my repayment just few days ago and will like to request for another loan.

I am currently working on a hospital construction project on a sub contract basis. I am mainly dealing with the labour aspect of the contract.

I will need some cash in order to pay my workers on site without delay as I wait on the main contractor to advance payment to me.

This help will be much appreciated.

Thank you.