Turning social media into a traditional African market place - Meet Elsie, the Princess of the 'new Agbogbloshie'

Elsie Ewudzie-Sampson is a professional female Graphic Designer at one of Ghana’s premier television stations, GHOne TV. She holds Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Design from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology -KNUST, Kumasi.

Elsie's love for colours has not only influenced her profession as a designer and an artist, but also a major inspiration in morphing vibrant traditional African market avenue through the power of social media.

"My love for colours drew me close to fruits, vegetables and local food ingredients, though cooking isn’t my hobby, I love to see fruits and vegetables properly packages and presented so they don’t lose their natural colour or look. I am a workaholic, I work almost every day of the week and when I am free I love to sit by my computer or stay indoors all day”

In the piece below, Elsie explained to us how she transformed her passion to start an online foodstuff delivery service in Ghana.

Her startup business: BIG SAMPS MARKET - Y'3nk) Gyaadze

Going to the market is a headache for me, tight schedule, family to be with and all that. This has been my life for a while, I also realised it’s the same with most of my colleagues and my friends. Noticing that busy schedules keep people of my calibre away from making time to go to the market to get their foodstuff, and even when you want to go, the stress and the traffic involved sometimes. I decided to come up with something that will help people like me while considering convenience, quality and cost.

In Accra, when you mention ‘Agbogbloshie’ cheap or affordable groceries come to mind, so after all the plans and after a simple comment during one of my “Word of Mouth” marketing sessions, I got the “Mall quality” groceries at “Agbogbloshie” prices phrase. Now you can call me Adwoa “Agbogbloshie”

This Idea actually came up when I was in school in 2013, but I couldn’t implement it immediately due to inadequate funds. But I still decided to start it when I was in my final year in school in 2015. I made deliveries myself on foot just to see it work on campus.

Becoming a professional graphic designer and finding myself in a male dominating industry is one of my success stories and motivation. For new start-ups like Big Samps I wish us all the best. I’ve failed thrice but I never gave up. We can do it.

Instagram: big_sampsgh

Facebook: Big Samps

Twitter: big_sampsgh

Whatsapp: +233 549964842

Call: +233 501372047