Agilitee CEO speaks on plans to enter Ghanaian market: Seeks to produce electronic vehicles
AGILITEE Africa, a green tech solution provider, is seeking an opportunity to enter the Ghanaian market with the establishment of an assembly plant to produce electric vehicles (EVs) and other green technology products locally.
Subsequently, the company has finalised discussions with its Ghanaian partners for the assembly, and, ultimately, the production of electric vehicle solutions including battery swapping stations and solar charging facilities in the country.
Advertisement
It will also enable the South African firm to make its artificial intelligence (AI) products such as television sets, kettles, phone holders, available to the market in Ghana and other countries in West Africa.
Maclean Kwofi of the Graphic Business (GB) had an exclusive chat with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Agilitee Africa, Dr Mandla Lamba (ML), on the company's plan for the Ghanaian market going into 2022.
GB: First of all, Dr Mandla Lamba, give us a brief background of Agilitee Africa.
ML: The conception of the company started in 2015 and the formalisation of the company was done in 2018. The journey to where we are was not easy; a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs, but a lot of success has been enjoyed in the midst of pain. The story of Agilitee has been that of not amplifying problems and challenges at the expense of the goodness of God.
What gave us strength was the fact that five years ago there was no Agilitee and here we are today with this great company.
We are the first electric vehicle manufacturer and green tech company in Africa, and I believe that is enough reason to count our blessings. Recently, we manufactured the first full AI TV that has telematics for voice recognition and instruction. A lot has been achieved over the years.
GB: What is Agilitee's game plan and long-term vision for the green technology evolution in Africa especially Ghana?
ML: We settled on Ghana because the company believes that the West African country was more ready for the green revolution.
And so, the Ghanaian market is part of our strategy to penetrate the ECOWAS region. All I can say is that Ghana should brace itself to be part of the first countries in Africa to lead the green revolution.
GB: What are some of the technologies (products) you have introduced that are unique from what existed on the local market?
ML: We have developed the first electric motorbikes. Most recently we dropped the very first full AI TV that has a telematics for voice recognition and instruction remote system. We also designed the very first intelligent kettle. We have manufactured all home appliances and office electronics.
GB: What will be the impact of Agilitee's presence on the business environment in Ghana?
ML: For us, job creation, training and transfer of skills to replace the jobs that were lost as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is what excites us the most.
Also, the fact that Ghana is one of the first seven countries we selected to spearhead the green revolution is crucial for Agilitee’s agenda in the country.
There is some technology from AI that we are bringing which Ghana will experience even before the rest of the world.
GB: Tell us about Dr Mandla Lamba?
ML: That is worth a book to read, but in short, first foremost, I am a servant of God before anything else and everything else is secondary.
I am driven by the purpose of God for my life which is to see Africans economically free by pursuing the materialisation of dreams through innovation and creativity and not be reliant on natural resources and government contracts.
Using ingenuity, creativity and innovation to break the mood that holds us back. That is who I am in a nutshell.
GB: What inspired you into entrepreneurship and what vision do you have for the green technology space?
ML: Poverty, lack and pain led me to entrepreneurship and yet the purpose of God for my life led me to the green revolution.
Seeing our people suffer from losing jobs, hike in fuel prices, salary cuts and power outages are ills that the continent has been suffering from and these have delayed the civilization of Africans and I know I can help reduce these anomalies through entrepreneurship.
GB: What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs who dream to be like you in future?
ML: Dreams do come true; the bigger they are, the longer they take. In life you don’t succeed because you are good at something. There are many excellent people at a lot of things yet they are not successful.
You only succeed in life because even when you fail you still stay in the game and don’t give up. Success is not just a result of resilience, commitment, consistency. It is more of fighting the temptation to quit when the going gets tough.
Success doesn’t care who your mother or father is; whether you grew up poor or not, as long as you finish what you started and never give up no matter what, you will succeed in life.
It is also important to chase your own dream that is inspired by the things you are passionate about.