Samson Effah Apraku: Helping to fight malaria

Some people are destined to be entrepreneurs. From the time they get to school, or even before that, they are hungry to start a business and lead it to succeed, and they will stop at nothing to make that dream a reality.

One of such people is the Executive Chairman of Samara Company Limited, Mr Samson Effah Apraku, whose sole ambition is to bring down malaria drastically across the country.

About half of the world’s population is at risk of malaria. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 3.4 billion people are at risk of malaria. The WHO estimates that there were about 207 million cases of malaria and an estimated 627,000 deaths in 2012.

Moreover, every 60 seconds, a child dies from malaria. In 2012, an estimated 482,000 children, mostly in Africa, died before their fifth birthday because of malaria.

This situation is not different in Ghana and it is for this reason that Mr Effah Apraku decided to introduce the Sasso Insecticide Spray and Mosquito Coil.

“From 2000 to 2012, global efforts to stop malaria saved an estimated 3.3 million lives and reduced the rate of child deaths attributed to the disease by more than half. This is the kind of successful story that we at Samara Company stand to project to ensure that our products help in the prevention of malaria in the country.”

It is no doubt that the Sasso brand is now a household name. Mr Effah Apraku explained that apart from using his products to reduce the spate of malaria in the country, he realised in his line of duty in the distribution of pharmaceutical products that some people always had health related issues as a result of using certain insecticides sprays and coils.

With the harmful effects of certain products in mind, he decided to conduct an intensive research to help him come out with an insecticide brand which will be effective in killing mosquitoes and preventing malaria, but will not give its users any side effect.

“Some people get coughs, catarrh, asthma attacks and other allergic reactions when they use certain products. With these in mind, I decided to introduce a product which will help control the spread of mosquitoes, but will not trigger any allergic reactions,” he stated.

He explained “the Sasso insecticide spray kills mosquitoes instantly and leaves a fresh lemon scent in the room. It has a unique characteristic of leaving a fresh fragrance which one wouldn’t attribute to an insecticide spray. This is what distinguishes the Sasso Insecticide Spray from others on the market.”

Today, the Sasso brand has won both national and international awards.

Samara Company Limited currently has a workforce of over 200 management and staff across the regions.

The company plans to employ a total of 1,500 workers by 2016, by which time it would have manufacturing plants in Ghana to produce laundry bleach and other products, in addition to a water project.

Awards

On October 17, 2015, Mr Effah Apraku won the ‘Overall Achiever of the Year’ award.

The company also won the Best Insecticide Brand of the year and Best Group of the year at the just ended Fourth West African Regional Magazine Achievers Awards.

The award ceremony was held in Lagos, Nigeria, on the theme: "Agriculture in Poverty Alleviation and Economic Development."

In 2014, his product won the Top Emerging Brand and Fastest Growing Company at the same time at the Top Brands Awards by Premier Brand Ghana.

This year, Sasso again won the Fastest Growing Brand at the 2015 Head of State Awards Scheme (HOSA).

Mr Effah Apraku was not born on a bed of roses. He was born in Techiman in 1950 and grew up in Aworowa, a village in Techiman North District in the Brong Ahafo Region.

He is the third of six siblings. He grew up with his mother, Madam Ama Ferkah and developed keen interest in farming, since it was also the family’s means of livelihood.

Mr Effah Apraku is so much attached to and fond of his 96-year-old mother.

Hear him: “Aside the Almighty God, my mother is the one who has shaped my life. She made me who I am today. I was stubborn as a child and so she never spared the rod in disciplining me. I really love my mother.”

His mother ensured that he was never lazy. And so anytime they went to farm, she would assign to him a small parcel of land to make his own farm.

According to him, despite the fact that his mother was very poor, she never compromised on neatness and made sure that he and his siblings maintained a high standard of hygiene.

“Maintaining personal hygiene is necessary for many reasons: personal, social, health, psychological or it is simply a way of life. Keeping a good standard of hygiene helps to prevent the development and spread of infections, illnesses and bad odours,” he specified.

During his childhood, Mr Apraku sold firewood at the Aworowa Market before he could raise money for school.

Sometimes, he sold some of his farm produce but whenever he recorded low or no sales, he missed classes.

All these struggles did not deter him from becoming the great man that he thought of becoming in the future.

Mr Effah Apraku had his middle school education at the Aworowa SDA School. He became a teacher and a farmer at the same time after completing middle school. By dint of hard work, he went on to establish a chemical shop in 1984 at Aworowa.

Because of his outstanding managerial skills, marketing orientation and vast experience in business development, he was appointed by Ayrton Drugs to be its sole distributor in the Brong Ahafo Region.

He excelled, and was, therefore, assigned to handle the nationwide distribution of the drugs. He took up the challenge and within a short time some products such as Virol, Panacin, Teeda, and Minavita became a household name and the most sought after.

He has 16 children who are all well-educated and two grandchildren who are both dear to his heart: Kayla Apraku Antwi and Serwaa Nhyira Apraku.

He fellowships with the Perez Chapel in Accra.

Outside business, he loves to chat with his grandchildren and watch television programmes and news with his family.

His best sporting activity is swimming. He goes on the treadmill and plays football with his wife, Vida and some of his children.

Mr Effah Apraku loves to eat fufu with any mouth-watering soup. In the absence of fufu, he eats ampesi with palava sauce.