Happy Birthday to me! Today marks another year of experiences and growth.
I’m grateful for many blessings: being alive, healthy, and surrounded by a loving family, friends, and good food. On this day, I want to reflect on some of the highlights of 2022, celebrate the small victories, and express my gratitude to those who have made this journey worthwhile.
I quit my job.
“Although it’s cool to see my name on the door, my ultimate goal is to have it on the entire building.” – Brian Dzansi.
I left my exciting role as the Commercial and Tech Advisor at the Danish Embassy in December of last year. My big sister might not be thrilled to hear this, but sometimes a man has to move on.
My time at the embassy was incredibly enriching. I had the opportunity to have tea with influential figures, learn about international business consulting, diplomacy, and wine, and view Ghana from a fresh perspective.
I’m grateful for the experience and the supportive colleagues I had there—Angela, Garcia, Harrison, Kenneth, Iswat, Freeman, and Efo, my favorite security guard. I’m also proud of the achievements during my tenure, including coordinating the Tech for Democracy event, advising Danish tech companies looking to invest in Ghana, publishing market insights on fintech opportunities in Ghana, speaking on the main stage at the Nordic fintech event, and co-organizing learning tours to Denmark for senior Ghanaian government and business executives.
Brian speaking at Nordic Fintech Week
Node Eight is five years old.
In 2017, my friend Mawuli and I took a leap of faith and founded Ho Node, an innovation hub in the Volta region. We sent out countless invitations, but only 10 “friends and fools” believed in our vision and agreed to support our mission. We’ll call them “angels” because they played a crucial role in bringing a dream that once only existed on paper to life. (Thank you, Obed, Joy, Sedem, Francis, Awuni.)
I remember a respected figure advising us to focus our efforts in Accra instead of “wasting our time” in Ho. Despite his advice, we chose to press on. The journey to securing program funding, retaining employees, and ensuring the survival of the hub was anything but easy. Even though Mawuli eventually bowed out, the transformative stories of how our work benefited countless young people in our community drove me to keep going.
Last year, we celebrated our fifth anniversary, moved into a new space, expanded our team to twelve, and saw a 1,000-fold increase in our impact. The highlight of our fifth year was closing a project that will increase our revenue tenfold.
There are many people to thank on this journey, but I want to specifically mention Komla. He supported the vision when it was still unclear, learned quickly on the job, and worked tirelessly from his early days as a community manager to his current role as our Managing Director. He is the true hero of the Node Eight story.
Learn more about what we do at Node Eight. You can support us by donating to our fund, volunteering as a mentor, or recommending us to investors and donors.
Launched Accra digital circles
An off-the-cuff chat with my friend Nii inspired us to create and launch Accra Digital Circles last year. I’m particularly excited about this project because it fulfills a personal need—networking. Accra Digital Circles is a niche community of digital economy professionals in Ghana. It aims to create a safe space for conversation, connection, and networking among those working in or shaping the digital economy in Ghana. The community also serves as a platform for the exchange of ideas, connections, and insights to help build a thriving digital ecosystem in the country.
I’m thrilled to see how the group has grown from 18 members to over 100 in just three meetups. The feedback and testimonials from participants affirm the genuine value the community provides. This year, we introduced the Accra Digital Digest as a supplement to our meetups. You can sign up for curated news and analysis on the Ghanaian digital scene here. To extend the entertaining and insightful conversations from our meetups to a broader audience, we plan to launch a podcast in March of this year.
Projecting the voices of innovators, entrepreneurs, and hubs across Africa
I disagree with Donald Rumsfeld’s view that making sausage and crafting policy are things best not observed up close. As entrepreneurs and innovators, I believe we must actively engage in shaping the laws and regulations that will impact how we conduct business.
That’s why I was thrilled to collaborate with Serge, the former Microsoft Africa Policy Lead, to co-author AfriLabs’ Policy Pathways—a report that outlines the top 10 priorities for innovation hubs and startups across Africa.
Working on this project was incredibly exciting, from designing the methodology to gathering the data, writing the report, and collaborating with the design team to make it come to life. Read more here
Giving back and winning with Bishop Herman College
After a long absence, my high school alma mater, Bishop Herman College, returned to the National Science and Math Quiz (NSMQ) in 2017. It was disheartening to witness our elimination in the eighth round. Along with other former quiz competitors, we rallied our alumni base to help establish a STEM academy. Before our intervention, the school lacked the necessary resources to compete on par with other top high schools.
In 2020, we founded the BHoBu STEM Foundation with the goal of enhancing the quality of STEM education on campus. Our immediate target was to become a seeded school in the NSMQ, with the long-term aim of winning the trophy by 2025. Many BHoBus responded to the call, and we successfully raised funds to provide a permanent learning space, computers, printers, internet access, a library, food supplies, and other essentials, as well as incentives for instructors.
Last year, our efforts began to bear fruit. Bishop Herman College won the Volta/Oti NSMQ zonal championship and became a seeded school by reaching the quarter-finals at the national competition in Kumasi. This achievement is incredibly gratifying to me, as it highlights the power of persistence, hard work, and strategic planning.
Becoming a VC
Last year, I returned to school. On the first day, my classmates shared their clear career goals as the motivation behind enrolling in the MSc Finance & Investment program. For me, it was pure curiosity that drove my decision. I wanted to expand my knowledge of finance and investing, with the potential of setting up a VC fund someday. I chose the MSc at KNUST over an MBA because of its “rich” content, academic rigor, and the structured discipline I needed to navigate the world of finance.
Keeping up with my classmates—who were bankers, financial analysts, accountants, and other finance professionals—was tough, but I gave it my all. I wouldn’t recommend balancing a degree program with a full-time job and side gigs to anyone. The most challenging yet rewarding classes I took were Financial Derivatives, Accounting, and Investment Analysis. I’m especially thankful for Yaa’s teasing and motivational words, which kept me going.
Now, I have a thesis to complete to earn a degree that I’ll likely not use for employment purposes.
I am open to remote internships/entry job with a VC firm investing in African startups.
Lastly, I became a dad last year. There’s so much to say about this amazing yet exhausting journey, but first, let me regain control of my TV remote and phone! 🙂
…….
2023 will be great!