The Ghanaian Minaret

Accra: Alhaji Asoma Abu Banda, a business magnate who revolutionised the transport and logistics industry in Ghana, has passed on at the age of 91.

The devout Muslim died in the early hours of Saturday, the first day of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Born in June 1933 at Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana into a family with a strong business orientation, he started working at a tender age with his father in the road transport business, where he showed early signs of hard work and entrepreneurship.

Between 1955 and 1957, he was assigned the arduous job of buying cattle from Mail, Niger, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) and transporting them on foot to Kumasi, a job that he executed with diligence and devotion.

Alhaji Abu Banda was destined to create employment and economic empowerment for many people worldwide.

After his elementary education at Kintampo and Kumasi Government Boys, respectively, he went on to receive Ordinary and Advanced Level certificates as well as a diploma in Marketing/Sales Management in London.

He later undertook several courses in marketing, management, and shipping to help him understand better and excel in the line of the profession he had chosen for himself.

Determined to broaden his horizon and to acquire the requisite entrepreneurial competencies, Alhaji Banda travelled to London in 1960 to further his education.

He later entered the service of Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) of London as a Director in charge of Africa and the Middle East.

By dint of his high entrepreneurial spirit, Alhaji Banda ventured into private business in 1975 and established with partners a shipping company in London, OT Africa Line, and Antrak Group of Companies (London and Ghana).

Due to his able leadership and business acumen, more than 146 branches of his companies have been opened in countries across the world, creating jobs for over 500,000 people globally.

Alhaji Banda had shown tremendous commitment and support towards the socio-economic development of the country.

Some of his philanthropic acts included establishing the Crime Prevention Foundation to help resource the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies; constructing a female cell for Nima Police Station in Accra, catering for over 3,000 people annually; and building a mosque at the Airport Residential Area at a total cost of over one million US dollars.

He also made the Antrak Group of companies (Ghana) finance the reconstruction, refurbishment, and maintenance of the maternity wing of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in 1999 at a cost of nearly one billion Cedis.

Key positions held in his professional career included serving as Executive Chairman of Antrak Air, Executive Chairman of Antrak Express Limited, and President of the Ship Owners and Agents Association of Ghana.

On the international stage, he served as Chairman of OT Africa Line and Antrak Group (London); a founding member of OTAL Holdings Group and Chairman of Cross Marine Service, Nigeria.

He was also a founding member and director of Antrak Group, managing the agency network in Europe, West and Central Africa, and a member of the British Institute of Directors and European Community Ship Owners’ Association.

He had served on the board of some public and private institutions such as the Ghana Port and Harbours Authority, Meridian Port Services, Ghana Maritime Authority, Shippers Council, Ghana Airways, Cal Bank, CFAO Ghana, BUSAC Fund, and JESCAN Construction Limited.

He was also a member of the Board of Trustees-Ghana Police Trust Fund, member of the Board of Trustees of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, chairman of the Crime Prevention Foundation, and chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba.

The state conferred on him the prestigious Award of the Companion of the Order of Volta and was given the title of Fellow by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for acts of benevolence in 2002 during the University’s Special Golden Jubilee Congregation Award.

KNUST and the University of Cape Coast also conferred on him an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Entrepreneurship (Honoris Causa), respectively.

Asoma Banda was politically influential as he was a member of the Council of State, the chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) in 1992, helped establish, and became chairman of the Peoples Convention Party (PCP), which later became the Convention Peoples Party (CPP).

He single-handedly spearheaded the formation of the Great Alliance, which merged with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during the 1996 election, which had former president Kuffour and Ackaah as flag bearer and running mates, respectively.

Alhaji Banda, in recognition of his numerous contributions to the socio-economic growth of the country, has received many awards from not only the Ghanaian government but also from other organisations in many countries.

As arguably the first African to own a ship and the first Ghanaian to own an aircraft, he was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Ghana Shippers Council and the Best Ever Transport and Logistics Personality of the Year by the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics in 2006.

He had received the West Africa Maritime Lifetime Achievement Award (2009), the Golden Star Award for Aviation Operation in West Africa (2009), the EMPRETEC Ghana Foundation Entrepreneur of the Decade Award (2001), and the Kwame Nkrumah Leaders Awards (2003) by the All African Students Union.

His shipping company won the Best Shipping Line of the World on two occasions, in 1999 and 2000, respectively.