Back in Ghana AGAIN!

today we landed in Accra, Ghana, for what might well be my last trip to this blessed place. in all its humid glory, Ghana embraced me today and to quote one of my Ghanaian friends, it's good to come "home" again. for the next two weeks, a faculty member and colleague of mine from the Kelley School of Business will lead a group of 20 students across southern Ghana.

we started this journey over a year ago with our first trip to Ghana and after one additional trek to West Africa and many months of preparation later, we've arrived to engage in some sort of "creative capitalism" as it might be defined by C.K. Prahalad. as we've developed this global business and social enterprise program (GLOBASE), we've had the good fortune to find partners who support our mission and who have wholeheartedly contributed to the realization of our vision to make a measurable, positive impact for business owners operating in below average socio-economic environments, focusing primarily on areas of emerging markets.

this work primarily focuses on micro, small, and mid-sized businesses, whose workforce comprises up to 50 employees. these organizations often depend on the prosperity of what is defined as the informal economy in Ghana and West Africa. The informal sector consists of economic activity that is neither taxed nor monitored by a government and is not included in the government's GNP, as opposed to a formal economy.

on our first night in-country, Joshua, who manages the tour company that's providing on-ground logistics for our trip gave a brief description of the informal economy as part of a larger presentation to our MBA student group. After his presentation, a traditional Ghanaian cultural troop joined us for pre, during, and post-dinner entertainment and dancing. Looking for many fun days and nights to come!