The poor Ghanaian village ‘boy’ who defied the odds to become CEO, owner of 114 houses

His name is Thomas Ayisah, married, a top personality at one of Ghana’s oil companies, the owner of a hundred and fourteen houses, all built with monies from his own pocket and an employer of over 300 people in Ghana.

Sounds luxurious for a lifestyle right? Perhaps! But his was a rather rough start, one that has earned him scars for life.

He was born in a village at Sefwi Wiawso in the Western North Region of Ghana, growing up in a relatively poor family. His childhood was tough he says. Though his father was a cocoa farmer, they had very little to boast of in terms of wealth as a family.

Young Thomas will return from the farm with his father in his dirty clothes only to see his classmates neatly dressed and returning from school.

He managed to do this, to get some money to support his schooling till it was time to progress to the tertiary level. At this point, he was helpless. His father said there was no money and his mother could only help if she borrowed money.

With a dream to attend the Institute of Professional Studies (IPS) what is now the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), he acquired some GHc500 which was borrowed by his mother for him and set off for the city; Accra.

This was when his struggles as an independent person began.

Speaking to Youtuber, Wode Maya in an interview, he said;

“So I picked that money and went to Nkawkaw to the sawmill, where they make wood and I started business and I enrolled in school.

“Every weekend, I’ll go the sawmill, go and pick products to sell in the market, then my first year in IPS was crazy. I had to perch in my friend’s hostel. When I was going to school, I had only 2 pairs of clothes and one shoe. In my first semester, it was like a curse from God but I survived it till today.

“I started scrap business with a couple of friends,” he said.

In his second year, with links from a friend, things got a bit better, he began working with a bank as a sales officer. It was through this he met and picked success tips from established people in various companies whom he was selling the bank’s products to.

After a while, in 2011, he moved to the Universal Merchant Bank where he worked till 2013 when he moved to work for an oil company.

Here, although he was promised better, Thomas was paid less – and during this period, his house and everything he owned got burnt. Life was hard all over again but his friends helped him out and linked him to some people who helped him start over.

“In the process, I visited oil companies etc. I did that till 2013 then I left for an oil company. They said they’ll pay me commission. They said they’ll give me 2,000 but they gave me 1,000 for the first month and after they were paying me 500 cedis.

“In 2014, one Sunday, I moved from the house and everything in the house got burnt, everything I own. Even customers’ monies with me at home got burnt.

“My company ceased my car before they gave me money to start up. Through this, I got a contract for the company but on that very day, I got fired.

“I got in touch with a friend who helped me, introduced me to someone who helped me get some products,” he said.

Thomas then explained that with some savings of about GHc1,500 which was 15 million cedis in the old Ghanaian currency, he decided to get married. Following this decision, his friends decided to gift him some money for his honeymoon. It was this money he used to establish his very first building which was a 6-bedroom house, after consultation with his wife.

“It is that money I used to start my building business. Within 6 months, we built a 5-bedroom house with a boy’s quarters.

“After this I started my own company, picking contracts to supply fuel oil to other factories and from there, my company started growing.

“I was living alone here in the bush so I sat and said why can’t I build a community for people to move in and settle,” Thomas added.

Today, he is the Head of Procurement at Akwaaba Oil Refinery and is the owner of a Real Estate Community; Agazy Homes - with some 114 houses.

Listen to Thomas Ayisah tell his story in the video below: