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The only mall which is fully Ghanaian-owned is mine. Now I see the China Mall and this mall. Where is the Ghanaian-owned one? It pains me”, he lamented. Dr. Asamoah believes Ghanaian entrepreneurs should have been supported to build on the foundation A&C Mall created.
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The founder of A&C Mall, Dr. Andrew Asamoah, says it is painful that decades after pioneering Ghana’s modern shopping mall industry, the country still has only one fully Ghanaian-owned mall.
Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, the veteran entrepreneur reflected on how he hoped A&C Mall would inspire more local investors to enter the sector.
“The only mall which is fully Ghanaian-owned is mine. Now I see the China Mall and this mall. Where is the Ghanaian-owned one? It pains me”, he lamented
Dr. Asamoah believes Ghanaian entrepreneurs should have been supported to build on the foundation A&C Mall created.
“Once we set the pace, we should have been the leaders. More effort should have been made to help other Ghanaians come into the market”, he stated
According to him, the biggest barrier has been the high cost of financing long-term projects in Ghana.
He explained that while short-term loans can work for traders who import goods and repay the bank after selling them, major developments such as shopping malls require patient capital over many years. “If you order some things and clear them from the port within two weeks, you can take money from the bank, sell the goods and pay it back. But when you want to do something that will germinate in 10 years or 15 years, it’s not easy”, Dr. Asamoah said.
That financing challenge almost brought A&C Mall to a halt before construction was completed.
Dr. Asamoah revealed that he initially expected a local bank to finance the project. When that support did not materialize, he faced one of the most difficult decisions of his entrepreneurial journey.
“The toughest days were when I thought I would be able to get a local bank to work with me. It was never in my plans that I would have to sell the properties I had acquired outside to finance the project.”
He described the decision as a major personal risk. “It reached a point where I had to decide whether to stop the project or find an alternative. The alternative was to take that risk.”
Throughout the uncertainty, he says one person never wavered; his wife.
“I was very lucky that my wife was with me all the way. She supported me, so we said we would do it and we were able to do it.”
Today, A&C Mall stands as a landmark in Ghana’s retail industry. But for Dr. Asamoah, its greatest success would have been seeing many more Ghanaian-owned malls rise across the country.
He also added that the dominance of foreign-owned malls is a reminder of how difficult it remains for local entrepreneurs to secure the long-term financing needed to bring ambitious ideas to life.
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