Kudos To Mr. Kweku A. Anno - A Brilliant And Innovative Green Ghanaian Entrepreneur

Today, dear reader, I am posting a culled piece from www.citifmonline.com. In my humble view, it is definitely one of the most interesting and inspiring business stories, that I have ever come across, in the Ghanaian media - in all of the nearly twenty years or so that I have been associated with it.

This is the clincher for me: "The system is inspired by nature – just like on a forest floor, waste is broken down rapidly and effectively within days. The only by-product generated from the system is nutrient-rich, filtered water, which can be reused for landscaping or other purposes.

The Biofil system not only works thirty times faster than the current, most effective system – the septic system – it is also up to thirty times smaller! More importantly, this simple structure does not require the ground to be dug up, and can easily be integrated into the building design, hidden away in the back yard, or customised for tight spaces.
Anno and his team have installed more than 2,000 new Biofil Digesters in homes, office blocks and other commercial facilities in Ghana, Belize, India, South Africa and Liberia.

They have also installed a significant number of solutions to manage existing septic systems which have problems such as overflowing. These “trickling filters” are designed to treat the water and sludge generated in the septic tank and completely eliminates the need for contents to be pumped out by waste trucks."

The story is about a Ghanaian entrepreneur, a Mr. Kweku A. Anno, who must be one of the most dynamic and innovative green businesspeople, anywhere on the surface of the planet Earth - and the proud owner of Biological Filters and Composters Limited.

CitiFM deserves our congratulations for this positive story. The government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry, must do all it can to actively promote the business of innovative Ghanaian businesspeople, such as Mr. Kweku A. Anno.

Our leaders must take advantage of the tremendous fund of goodwill, which still exists throughout the continent, for Nkrumah's Ghana, to help innovative Ghanaian entrepreneurs like Mr. Kweku A. Anno to expand their businesses across Africa, in joint-ventures with local businesspeople.

It is dynamic and game-changing individuals like him, that our leaders ought to take abroad with them, on their many junketting trips overseas - not the many lazy, semi-literates in the Ghanaian media world: whom they pack unto jet planes at hapless taxpayers' expense, but who produce precious little to enlighten their audiences, upon their return home.

Apparently the producer of the "biofil digester" (according to Citi FM), from the sound of it, Mr. Kweku Anno's efficient waste treatment system could indeed help the whole of sub-Saharan Africa, to solve a pressing public health problem: managing the disposal of emptied household liquid waste in septic tanks safely, as well as dealing with the unsanitary conditions blighting the lives of the poorest of the poor, in the poverty-stricken parts of both rural and urban Africa.

This brilliant entrepreneur is godsend for Ghana - and all the District Assemblies ought to partner his company in public private partnerships (PPP) to enable them deal effectively with their liquid waste management problems in a more scientific manner.

Here is the culled www.citifmonline piece about the brilliant Mr. Kweku A. Anno, whose company produces the "biofil digester." Please read on:


"Ghanaians need to build to effectively eliminate waste

A local entrepreneur has challenged Ghanaian architects and real estate developers to be more creative and innovative when it comes to putting up their designs for buildings.

Kweku A. Anno, inventor of the Biofil Digester, a unique waste treatment system, said that current trends in the building industry call for new thinking when it comes to design of buildings and communities.

Issues such as limited land, soil conditions and poor drainage systems, among others, affect design of housing developments in the country. Anno however insists that sanitation and waste management are even more essential considerations, given in our current situation.

“Our population is increasing, especially in the urban areas, and even those who practice proper sanitation are not spared the effects of the generally poor waste management in the country,” Anno added. “The frequent cholera epidemics, the prevalence of intestinal diseases, foul smells and a general eyesore across the country are all evidence of this.”

Real estate developers are leaning toward smaller-sized housing units than before, and the limited amount of land is also driving more upward development in the form of apartment blocks and flats. Such developments may require a central sewage system to provide necessary sanitation for residents, and Kweku Anno believes his company has the best solution.

Anno’s invention; the Biofil Digester, appears a simple concrete box, large enough for an average-sized person to fit in. The device however uses a unique filtration technology that has been researched and standardised by his company, Biological Filters and Composters Ltd (Biofilcom), over the past 15 years.

The system is inspired by nature – just like on a forest floor, waste is broken down rapidly and effectively within days. The only by-product generated from the system is nutrient-rich, filtered water, which can be reused for landscaping or other purposes.

The Biofil system not only works thirty times faster than the current, most effective system – the septic system – it is also up to thirty times smaller! More importantly, this simple structure does not require the ground to be dug up, and can easily be integrated into the building design, hidden away in the back yard, or customised for tight spaces.
Anno and his team have installed more than 2,000 new Biofil Digesters in homes, office blocks and other commercial facilities in Ghana, Belize, India, South Africa and Liberia.

They have also installed a significant number of solutions to manage existing septic systems which have problems such as overflowing. These “trickling filters” are designed to treat the water and sludge generated in the septic tank and completely eliminates the need for contents to be pumped out by waste trucks.

Anno states that their product goes beyond toilet waste management; “we have been treating organic waste from the kitchen and household by dumping these materials directly into a customised Biofil Digester” he explained.

So far, this application of the technology has resulted in up to 50% reduction in the amount of rubbish generated in these households. Furthermore, waste is easy to sort and recycle, because all the decomposing material has been eliminated from the waste stream.

“The solutions to our sanitation problems lie right here with us – it is up to us to make use of the technology, and within the next five years, Ghana would be able to achieve 100% coverage of sanitation,” Anno said.


End of culled www.citifmonline.com piece about Mr. Kweku A. Anno.

Well, there we are, dear reader. And what a marvellous and positive Ghanaian media story, for a change. Mr. Kweku A. Anno deserves a Grand Medal - and I hope that his business makes him millions of dollars, as the years roll by. He is certainly deserving of it.

Above all, I do hope that our equally innovative and hard-working Fanteakwa District Assembly's Chief Executive, the Hon. Abass Fuseini Shaabe, will arrange for Mr. Anno to pay our Fanteakwa District Assembly a visit soon - to explore the possibility of a PPP. A word to the wise...

However, since this is about Mr. Kweku A. Anno, let me end this particular blog-posting, by saying kudos to him, for his is marvellous, brilliant, innovative and green Ghanaian enterprise.


Tel (Powered by Tigo - the one mobile phone company in Ghana, which actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109.



Post Script

Since this is a nation in which altruism has become virtually extinct and many individuals in society, on the make and on the take, let me quickly make the point that I have neither met nor spoken to Mr. Kweku A. Anno before.

And I haven't been given a back-hander by him or anyone acting on his behalf either, to do a PR job for him. I simply happen to admire what he has achieved - and wish him and his innovative green business well, going forward into the future.

Finally, dear reader, it is time we all understood that it is innovative and dynamic entrepreneurs like Mr. Kweku A. Anno, not our mostly-unimaginative and self-serving political class, who will help transform Ghana's economy.

The current government definitely ought to consider giving innovative green businesses such as his, a long tax holiday: at the very least, of 20 some years duration.

He really is adding value, in quality-of-life terms, to Ghanaian society - and helping to improve the living standards of the generality of the Ghanaian populace. Really splendid chap!

PPS Comments.

To Claire Marie:

Apparently Blogger no longer supports my smartphone's web browser, so I have been unable to moderate comments, for some time.

This particular comment on the blog-posting entitled "Kudos To Mr. Kweku A. Anno - A Brilliant And Innovative Green Ghanaian Entrepreneur" was from Claire Marie:
"This is probably one of the most popular kitchen sink about and is accessible in all prices ranges.

Even so, you don’t expect to buy the best quality sink for a cheap price. Usually a cheap stainless steel sink is created of thin metal which flexes and vibrates".

My response: Claire Marie, not many of the residential areas in urban Ghana are connected to a central sewage system.

So most homes in Ghana have a concrete septic tank that when full, has to be emptied of its contents by liquid waste tanker-trucks that suck them into their tanks for disposal elsewhere.

That is what the story's main point is: that Mr Kweku Anno's 'innovation' breaks down the septic tank's contents biologically - obviating the need for regular emptying oif its contents by liquid-waste tanker trucks.

In the Ghanaian context, it is definitely an innovation - a vast improvement on the old system of managing septic tanks.

I would accept that in a strictly scientific sense, its not a new "methodology" that he's come up with. But business wise, its an innovation here - as its a very useful service no commercial entity has ever offered here before. Any of that make any sense to you, Claire Marie? Hope so.