Users on digital participation in Ghana

It is providing our bread and butter

For Ghana’s marketing companies, threats loom but business is booming in the age of the Internet.

Amadu Samed Gaida founder of Gaida-Com Group in Tamale, Ghana

Amadu Samed Gaida is the founder of Gaida-Com Group, a multi-business marketing company in Tamale. He studied Information Communication Technology at the local technical university. While at school, he began hosting radio shows and working as a DJ, before starting his own company. Samed says that even though digital participation has made running a business easier, he still has to worry about online fraud.

To me, digital participation means bringing services conveniently and reliably to clients. It means creating opportunities for individuals. As a result of digitization, I am able to run this business. I don’t have an office yet for now. All I need is to get data, and I can easily offer my services.

At Gaida-Com Group we use digital platforms to promote products like real estate, video content, and graphic design. Unfortunately, there are fake services online, which have become our main threat. But, generally, we think the positive side of online business overrides the negative. Clients make purchases through our online platforms and we deliver them a service. I wouldn’t have a secure livelihood without the digital revolution. So for some of us, it is providing our daily bread and butter.

Maxwell Suuk / Matthew Moore

The #speakup barometer is a DW Akademie project that examines the connection between digital participation, freedom of expression and access to information. Learn more at www.dw.com/barometer