Accra, Ghana//-Ghanaians’ consumption of foreign goods against the local ones is having a negative impact on the economy.
Ghana consumes more foreign goods than what its hard-working entrepreneurs produce annually.
However, one young Ghanaian entrepreneur is working assiduously to turn the tide by producing quality and affordable local food to feed the entire population.
Ms Davina Sheilla Mensah who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Royal Vina Foods, a leading producer of locally made food products such as local brown rice, white rice, coconut oil, brown sugar, pure honey, among others, is making waves in the country’s local food production industry.
Although her company started in June 2020 at the time that the devastating novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was at its peak, she is currently doing wonders in her chosen industry.
Ms Mensah told African Eye Report in an exclusive interview that she wants to be known as Ghana’s biggest local rice hub and an ambassador and advocate of made in Ghana products to increase consumption of local products nationwide and worldwide.
She said she is committed to serving Ghanaians their very own quality, nutritious and organic food products which she sources from Ghanaian farmers.
This Ms Mensah believes strongly would boost Ghana’s confidence in the trade of its products on the local and global market and in return would create employment, help increase the livelihood of people.
She was quick to add that consumption of local products would attract local and international traders and investors, help to balance international trade, help maintain a good exchange rate, contribute to GDP growth, provision of healthy and nutritious food and give hope to Ghanaians
“I am naturally passionate about Ghana’s progress, growth and development and pledge to contribute my quota to help achieve the better Ghana that we yearn for through advocacy for the patronage of made in Ghana food products especially our local rice”, Ms Mensah said.
What drove her into local food production
When asked why she ventured into the local food production industry, Ms Mensah said she entered the industry to drive change.
In her words: “What drove me to undertake this project of advocacy is basically passion which developed into reality through prayer and directions from the Lord Almighty. I asked the Lord for what I could do after school when my official jobs I applied for were taking longer with response than I expected”.
Royal Vina rice
She continued: “I asked the Lord, and He showed me what to do according to my passion as I stated earlier. The project has been very demanding financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally”.
Through it all, Ms Mensah applied the faith, commitment, perseverance, dedication, and positive remedy which has kept her this far and in business.
Her entrepreneurial journey
Growing up, she loved sales because she lived with her grandma who was a Jewellery businesswoman and she (Ms Mensah) used to go and take care of the shop for her at the age of 14 years. So, her interest in becoming an entrepreneur started at a tender age.
Fortunately, “when I got into university, I got into the sale of phones and accessories. The passion grew bigger and bigger each day, experiencing new people and satisfying their needs as well as finding solutions to their grievances”, Ms Mensah stated.
She continued: “I left to the UK to pursue my first postgraduate programme in August 2019. I returned to Ghana in December 2020. I then started applying for a job which dragged more than I estimated so I started praying to God that I needed to do business and He should give me ideas”.
The young pretty entrepreneur did that for three days and on the third day, according to her: “God spoke to me to go into manufacturing of local foods. Then I asked for specifics which I heard were local rice, coconut oil, honey, and brown sugar”.
Ms Mensah whose entrepreneurial journey has been a mixture of intensive physical and resource demand as well as a feel of achievements.
In her words: “I have survived several challenges which opened my eyes to the awareness of Life meaning and God”.
Meteoric rise
From a humble beginning, Royal Vina Foods has become a household name in Ghana as it continues to provide quality and nutritious locally made foods for the people of Ghana.
With the recent high demand for local food products in the country, most industry watchers say Royal Vina Foods is one of the companies to watch-out for in the industry.
Ms Mensah’s start-up story is not different from the hundreds of entrepreneurs and business executives profiled by the African Eye Report but her ambition to provide nutritious local food products for low income, middle income, and the high-earn Ghanaians and other nationals at an affordable price is unique.
Also, her zeal in championing the consumption of locally grown foodstuffs and the use of Ghanaian made goods and services, is an admirable one.
Her customers are satisfied with her products, so they keep talking about her which has attracted more people to get to know her brand. And she is being rewarded with more sales.
The company is succeeding because Ms Mensah continues to serve the needs of the people. Indeed, her customers are her most prized assets, thus providing them with quality and nutritious locally produced foods are her number one priority.
The CEO guided the way and did it with skill, style and high passion and dexterity. So, one can say she had the right products and right attitude and at the right time – which translated into high demand on a mass market scale.
However, all that would have been worthless without her unique brand of commitment, high energy and sheer determination, and the need to change the country’s local food production and consumption space.
As a young talented entrepreneur, she never allowed the different headwinds to weigh her down. Ms Mensah rather turned those challenges into golden opportunities for the benefits of her countrymen and women.
Vision
As naturally passionate about selling, customer service and believe in projecting the made in Ghana course to empower Ghana made products, she would love to see Ghana become great like Britain in the few coming years to secure the future of young ones and generations.
For her company, Ms Mensah envisions that the company would one day become a huge organization employing over 100s of employees with various divisions in charge of various segments of the business with more branches dotted across the 16 regions of Ghana.
Legacy
Ms Mensah wants to be recognised as the woman who is putting all her efforts and resources together to ensure Ghanaians believe in made in Ghana products, are confident about them and prioritise their patronage to build a better Ghana for themselves and generations.
Advice
She used the opportunity to advise young Africans who want to venture into entrepreneurship to first identify their passions before starting their businesses.
“Second, you need to involve God by asking him what to do before venturing into any business. Whatever God is involved in is always successful”.
At the starting point, the theme is Sacrifice. Giving your all to what you have started from your mind, your money, your time, strength, emotions, and belief, she added.
“Ultimately, prayer does everything and you will surely succeed if you don’t stop when you are tired but persist until you have accomplished your vision and mission of the business initiative”.
To foreigners from diverse countries and continents, she said Ghana has unique, durable, and healthy products which should be considered.
Awards
Under her leadership, the company has won five awards within a short period. These awards include-CEO of the Year, Emerging CEO of the year, Discovery Local brand of the year.
“We are challenged daily to do more for these honours and the team is committed to making made in Ghana Product, Ghanaians priority when choosing any item”.
Education
Ms Mensah holds a postgraduate degree in Monitoring & Evaluation from the University of Aberdeen, UK.
She also holds a postgraduate degree in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration (GIMPA). Ms Mensah studied for her undergraduate degree in Banking & Finance programme at the Central University, Accra.
Indeed, no country can grow without supporting its entrepreneurs. This is because wealth and many jobs are created by small businesses started by entrepreneurially minded individuals like Ms Mensah.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
