A Virtuous Entrepreneur — Ernest Ofori Sarpong
I have seen enough among some of Ghana’s real estate developers to recognise an ethical and competent businessman when I meet one. Ernest Ofori Sarpong is his name.
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I have experienced developers promising to build in nine months but still doodling after 18 months. I have seen developers who totally and blatantly refuse to refund deposits paid in respect of anticipated purchases because “they had many similar pending requests from clients but did not have the means to refund.” While ignoring such refund requests on account of insolvency, these developers have simultaneously embarked on aggressive newspaper advertisements, promising what they did not have and guaranteeing what they could not deliver.
I have seen entire estates built with impunity without a single building permit issued by local government authorities. Such developers have paid no attention to urgently needed drains, including storm drains, given the local terrain – something you would have thought ‘professionals’ would know--and brought to the attention of municipal authorities. I have seen and heard public officials advise such developers to “at least do something small before you start the work.”
I have seen entire ceilings of newly built houses by private real estate developers cave in after only a few months. I have seen installed tiles erupt like a volcano because of non-use of tiling cement. I have understood how and why a poorly wired electrical connection could quite easily set the whole house ablaze. I have seen newly bought buildings being entirely rewired by owners because electrical sparks have been traced to faulty wiring with cheap and dangerous materials which ended up melted and matted together.
I have seen businessmen sell lands they either did not own or only partially owned thus stimulating multiple purchases of the same land by unsuspecting clients. I have seen developers agree on their word to sell a housing unit upon completion and then on the verge of concluding the deal, rapidly renege and sell to a new vendor because “it is only when I see money that I know we are doing business.” Motivated entirely by money, they have no respect for their own words and they are totally undeserving of trust. You trust and deal with such people at your own current or future peril.
So imagine my pleasant surprise after many years of disappointing engagement with the above characters upon executing a transaction with Ernest Ofori Sarpong. My summary of the entire encounter would be as follows; Sarpong was great to negotiate with and demonstrated the ability to close a deal with dispatch. He was refreshingly very responsive to all emerging concerns, directly ensured his staff attended promptly to client concerns; he was absolutely a man of his word, seeing through every single promise that he made during the entire transaction, all his documents were legitimate, intact and well-kept and he exuded the calm confidence of a truly accomplished man without the desperation for money seen in others. Overall, dealing with Ofori Sarpong left me with the warm feeling that this was a trustworthy man who was completely ethical in his business affairs and perhaps, more concerned about maintaining the integrity of his name through fairly decent products than accumulating wealth through bastardised constructions and unsound business practices.
Others agreed with me, apparently; a mortgage specialist confirmed to me, “I have dealt with Sarpong many times and his papers are always in order”, while a colleague who dealt with Sarpong almost a decade ago praised him for “being a very nice person to deal with. He was really helpful to our family.” A profile of Ernest Ofori Sarpong on the internet describes him as a “God-fearing man and a good Christian brought up in the Presbyterian way.” If indeed, Sarpong’s ethical business practices are attributable to the Presbyterian Church and its tenets for bringing up children, then truly great is the Presbyterian type of Christianity and worthy of emulation is the God of the Presbyterians.
Further reading would also show Sarpong as a man of varied business interests; in real estates, salt mining and refinery, media, bottled water production and savings and loans.
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Ghana has a housing deficit of over 1.7 million houses. Demand for affordable houses has outstripped supply. Concrete jungles have emerged, kiosks villas have blossomed, with toilet and other facilities lacking. Regulation in the building industry is also poor or non-existent. Standards in construction, especially in the private real estate sector portray such wide variations that clients and would-be clients are constantly exposed to high risks. Landlords continue to fleece tenants. And banks saunter and trump around with extremely wicked mortgage rates.
I suppose it should be welcome news that Ghana launched a new housing policy in 2015 which clearly identifies “challenges in the housing sector to include high cost of land and accessibility, lack of access to credit facilities, high cost of building materials, outdated building codes and standards and the lack of effective regulatory and monitoring mechanisms.” Given the explicit aim of the policy to create space for private sector participation and leadership in addressing the housing deficit, I would emphasise the key role of a strong regulatory framework to ensure the maintenance of appreciable minimal standards at all times, in all locations and with all manner of buildings.
That said, it has been over a year since the housing policy was launched. Now will be a good time to begin interrogating what has changed, if any, in Ghana’s brutal construction industry. If only all estate developers were like Ernest Ofori Sarpong!