Yaw Sarpong-Kumankuma, an epitome of arts through enterpreneurship

Like Gold, Minerals, Oil and other natural resources, Ghana is blessed with a lot of human resources represented by many great personalities. Today, we put the spotlight on one of such personalities.

Yaw Sarpong-Kumankuma is a Multi tasking machine that has used his strength in Art, Design and Creativity to create a name for himself in the Business, Entertainment and Fashion industry of Ghana.

With majors in Management and Entrepreneurial Skills, Interior Design & Textile Design form a BA Industrial Art degree-KNUST, The precision with which he approaches business is simply adorable.

He is an Interior designer, Concept Developer, Project Manager for DecoRate Limited a design firm he started in 2008. His firm is responsible for many interior and exterior finishes in the country including MDS-Lancet Laboratories, the biggest Laboratory in West Africa, situated in East-Legon in the Capital City of Ghana.

Others include the Longest wooden pergola in West Africa at Lizzys Sports Complex which belongs to Ex-French and Chelsea Football Club Captain, Marcel Desailly.

Amongst many of his design achievements, his firm is also responsible for the design of Lifetime Achievement Award packages for Ghana's former President J.A. Kufour and former Registrar General of Ghana, Mr. Joseph Harley.

As an Art Director, he has developed and supervised many concepts for Set designs, Stage designs and Production design in movies for entertainment and corporate events, TV shows and movie production companies. In 2015, he was consulted on the Stage design for The Mo Ibrahim Freedom Concert (A subsidiary of The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, UK), a concert that was broadcasted live in 36 African Countries. It featured International Music Stars like Grammy Award winners Youssou N'dour and Angelique Kidjoe along BET award winners Sarkodie and Stonebwoy.

In business, He is a member of the Ghana-New Zealand Trade Chamber of Commerce and a member of Stockrush Ghana Limited.

Yaw is also a significant personality in the Music Industry of Ghana. His love for music is evident through the exploits he has made in the industry over the years. Together with a few partners, he co-founded The CUE, a firm that manages talent in music.

The idea is to nurture talent and make them sellable to the music world. Some of the products from the outfit include Mr. Eazi of Starboy Music, a record Label owned by the famous Wizkid. Others include Kojo-Cue of BBNZ, Cabum of OM Music, Lousika of 2131 music fame and Atumpan of "The Thing" fame. He is also Artist Manager for AJ Nelson and Aka Blay.

In fashion, Yaw is Creative Director and CEO of Captain Carter Mens Closet, a clothing and styling company he founded in 2014. The Afrocentric brand is influenced by his cultural beliefs and orientation. According to him, the mission is to help propagate untold African stories to the world through Fashion.

To throw more light on his music side, Yaw also has very strong ties with the international music community. In December 2015, He hosted Nana Kwabena Tuffour of Fear and Fancy and Wonderland Records to an Event dubbed "The Return of The Classic Man" at The Republic Bar in Osu.

Nana Kwabena, an Alchemist and a songwriter is responsible for the production of "Classic Man" by Jidenna, "Made to Love" by John Legend and "Yoga" by Janelle Monae. The event attracted A wide number of the diasporan community and several musicians.

Currently, Yaw works with Africa 1 media (www.africa1media.com), a professional services firm that provides legal, business and management advisory services to the arts, entertainment, media and sports sectors as Client Services Manager.

Ghana needs a lot of you Yaw. Ayekoo!