Youth must take to skills training - Nsoh Amoah

THE passion to be self-employed attracted him to the art of basket weaving. Today, Mr David Nsoh Amoah, Managing Director of Dasoa Company Limited has a market worldwide for his products. Ama Amankwah Baafi reports




WEAVING has been a traditional skill of the people of Bolgatanga in the Upper East region for years.

Popularly known as Bolga baskets, on both the local and international markets, these baskets are exclusively woven by the indigenous people of Bolgatanga.

Bolgatanga literally means soft soil, rocky land.

Little wonder that at the age of 23 Mr Amoah began dealing in straw baskets, shuttling between Accra and Takoradi in the Western region to ply his trade.

He began weaving baskets for a living in 1975 after completing secondary school form four. His company, known as Dasoa Company Limited is headquartered in Bolgatanga and with a branch in Lashibi, near Tema.

At that time, he started with a capital of four hundred cedis (now GH₵40). Initially, he transacted business with Takoradi British Society and later determined to look for markets outside for his products.

Consequently, he registered with the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) in 1991 and went through the export school, where he was taught how he can make it through his business and how to look for markets.

“In fact, the export school was helpful. I recall my first participation in an exhibition was in Germany, through the support of the GEPA. Then I began marketing in Burkina Lome (Togo). I have establised markets in Germany, United States of America, Japan, Australia, France and Italy through the exhibition of my products,” he told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS.

Unlike other entrepreneurs who explore the African market, before going to Europe, he thought there was no big market for handicrafts in Africa and therefore conconcentrated on countries outside the continent.

However, he acknowledged that the market for handicrafts in Africa was picking up, though on a very low profile. Now, he has expanded by adding other products namely drums, fans, hats, musical instruments (xylophone), household items (tables, stools, etc), oware (local game), Ashanti dolls and other decorative items.



SOUCING FOR RAW MATERIALS

The straw is the main raw material used. It is obtained from a tropical grass locally known as elephant grass (its technical name is “veta vera”). The grass grows along the banks of rivers, streams and swampy areas. The straw is harvested wet, then sun-dried, and becomes ready to go through the weaving process.

Unfortunately, Mr Amoah said basket weavers like him are compelled to travel to Kumasi to either harvest the straw themselves or buy it from the open market because they are now extinct in Bolgatanga, as people have farmed along the banks of rivers.

Weaving process begins by splitting the straw into two halves by biting every single piece in the middle at one end with the teeth to open it into two. The split straw is wrapped together in a wet sack to keep it wet and prevent it from breaking during the twisting process. The split piece of straw is then twisted by rolling the two halves together. Traditionally, this is done on the weaver's thigh. However, today, a piece of bathroom sandal is tied against the thigh for the rolling process.

Different lengths and thickness are best used for different parts of the basket. The weaver carefully selects the appropriate straw for the different parts of the basket. He said the ability of the weaver to select the most appropriate straw goes a long way towards the outcome of a good basket.

If there is need to apply dye, a pot of water is brought to boil and the dye is added. The straw is then submersed into the solution and pressed down. The actual weaving process starts with the base of the basket. Once the body of the basket is completed, the rim is added.

Trimming involves the cutting off the remaining ends of the straw on the body of the basket (both in and outside of the basket). “We design and add colours that will suit each season; spring, winter,” he said.

Dasoa Company employs over 100 permanent staff and also employs contract staff when it gets big orders.



HOW GHANAIAN PRODUCTS FARE OUTSIDE

Mr Amoah recognised finishing is an issue to most Ghanaian entrepreneurs. Particularly, when they take orders beyond their production capacity and try to deliver at all cost. “You see sometimes you take on other people to work and since they are not conscious about finishing, you need to be vigilant or else they will mess you up,” he said.

Sadly, the weaving industry he said was threatened by cheap products from Vietnam and Philippines, and as a result reduced patronage. “In the 1990s it was so good in Germany. A customer could take about 100,000 baskets from me a year, but now it is USA which takes over 50,000 baskets a year,” he lamented.

Thankfully, ours is the original or natural straw so patronage it has picked up.



ACHIEVEMENT

Mr Amoah has made it in life through the business and says has no regrets. Yet, he still wants to grow it big so that others may also benefit from it. He has several assets, is also a registered contractor and has invested in other sectors.

He has also trained about eight people who are well established now. Mr Amoah is happy to be associated with a tradition from his ancestry and also makes an effort to bring young people in.

Since its inception, Dasoa Company has received about 10 different awards, from both local and international institutions. Just last year the company received a silver award at the 22nd National Awards for Export Achievement.

His major challenge includes securing markets and how to get bigger support to expand the business. Though, the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF) come in handy, the process to accessing the facility is cumbersome. He appealed to government to organise soft loans for such entrepreneurs, as they also contribute to the growth of the economy.



FUTURE PLANS

In the next five years, Mr Amoah hopes to see Dasoa Company involved in other projects that would expand the company and get more buyers in countries he is not established.

When he is not weaving baskets he loves to dance to highlife music, watch films and surf the Internet.

He said the youth need to find the art or craft that really interests them. “Sometimes it takes a while. Not everything comes in youth. Find good teachers and books if you can. They always need to work hard and not rush,” he advised.

He has adopted five children whom he has put through school from his area and also contributes immensely to BONABOTO, a non-political, non-religious development-oriented association of people who have the interest of seeing to the holistic development Bolgatanga, Bongo and Talensi-Nabdam districts of the Upper-East Region.

Mr Amoah hails from Zaare in the Upper East Region and married to Grace Amoah, a teacher (formerly a weaver), with whom they have five children. He schooled in Katole Middle School in Zaare in 1970.