On our first day we had the opportunity to meet with Derry Dadzie from DreamOval.  DreamOval is an IT business created by 3 ashesi alums.  It actually has its origins in a software engineering club that existed on the Ashesi campus.   The founders worked together on a senior project that involved creating a smart traffic light that would better manage data.   This harkened me back to another pair of software entrepreneurs who got their start building traffic related software that evolved into something else.

 

(Derry Dadzie (with the tie) with Ashesi Board member Yaw Asare-Aboagye, and Volunteer Kristi Helgeson)

DreamOval is building an ecommerce platform for payments and banking on sms sand with mobile phones.   They also have helped sms enable banking and other IT systems within Ghana.   They currently have 7 total employees and are cash flow positive.   They are doing projects for many of the large companies within Ghana, and are working on a special project to enable nurses with mobile phones for the Grameen foundation.  Their dream is to build out their platform and make a broader difference with software for people in Africa.

Derry is one of the highest initiative young people I have met in a long time.  He showed initiative at a very young age.  He organized a local group when he was about 11 to do good in his neighborhood.   He wrote articles on business and economics as a teenager—he knew he wanted to start something and grow it big.   Someone suggested he look at Ashesi, as it was a place focused on growing entrepreneurial leaders.  He was afraid to apply; because as a private institution, he wasn’t sure he could afford it.  He’s glad he did.  He received a combination of scholarships, aid, and loans that enabled him to attend–as do about half of our students.    He was very active as a student; and loved the opportunity Ashesi afforded—and he took advantage of what it had to offer.   He and his colleagues have already given back to Ashesi both in kind and directly.  Very inspiring.

 

by toddwseattle

Source: http://ashesifriends.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/dreamoval/

 

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites