Reggie Tagoe reports on how a Ghanaian Association in Italy has been transformed into a successful business and social entity.

What started as a normal Ghanaians' Association abroad has now become a big business enterprise and with that, Ghana Co-operative (Ghanacoop) is walking with success.

The story of Ghanacoop in the city of Modena, north of Italy, began as one of the Ghanaians Associations in the country. But in 2005 the Association created a business plan. At that time they didn't know they were breaking new ground; all they knew was that they had identified a business opportunity and decided to pursue it with the commitment to succeed.

While there were those among them who gave up when they believed that there were no decent returns to be had, some of them dug their heels in, making sacrifices in order to achieve their purpose. These Ghanaians continued to invest their time and money and, recognising their limited knowledge of business creation and management, underwent in-depth training in these areas. Many made big sacrifices, while some even stopped their jobs to fully implement their plan.

Now all these efforts are bearing fruit, in fact bearing very sweet and fresh fruit, as fresh as the ones they import from Ghana and sell in Italy.

Ghanacoop is now engaged in big business trading, importing exotic fruits, agricultural food and handicraft products from Ghana to Italy whilst exporting Italian wine, pasta and ham to Ghana.

Among its imported fruits from Ghana are pineapples, pawpaw, mangoes, coconuts as well as palm oil, plantain and yam among its agricultural products.

Ghanacoop has established links with Italian megastores and supermarkets such as Nordi Conad, Coop Estense and GS Carrefour, and each week tons of its products are imported into the country.

In 2007, Ghanacoop succeeded in making a profit of €1million (one million euros) and according to its President, Thomas McCarthy, Ghanacoop - which employs both Italians and Ghanaians - will hit the €5 miilion (five miilon euros) mark in gross profit in 2008.

"Ghanacoop is proof that immigrants are an important resource for the social and economic development of both their host and countries of origin", says McCarthy.

According to McCarthy, noting that the Ghanaian community is truly united and without tribal or ethnic discrimination, "Three factors have contributed to our success and these are unity, dedication and partnership."

The success of Ghanacoop has also been helped largely by its partnership with the Province of Modena and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) through which it has carried out projects in Ghana helping some villages and towns with electricity and water supply and contributing to the purchase of equipment to hospitals, among them Gomoa Simbrofo – a poor village situated some 90 km from Ghana's capital, Accra.

Under its project on a 100-acre plot in Gomoa Simbrofo, Ghanacoop aims at promoting the development of social and enviromental sustainable processes for the production of corn, fruits and vegetables with biological certification.

Ghanacoop also hopes to expand its activities by importing produce from its own farm in Ghana and the organisation plans to promote economic and social development actions that facilitate the construction of schools and the provision of water purification facilities. It also intends to provide the communities with alternative energy from solar panel systems and to discourage the migratory flow out of the region by offering the villagers concrete job opportunities and continuous development through qualifications.

A fixed amount of the price paid for Ghanacoop's exotic products goes to support implementation of health projects and favouring workers communities in Ghana.

The organisation has created scholarships for their children and supports vaccination campaigns in several villages and, in one of its latest projects, it is financing the photo voltaic implant to provide electricity to different villages.

On a more ambitious note, the organisation plans to enter the European market of Fair-Trade certified products. McCarthy is more than grateful to all co-operative bodies that has been of immense support from the begining.

"Our special thanks go to Arcadia and Oltrelab Group for having projected the start-up of Ghanacoop together with the Council of Ghana Nationals Association in Italy (COGNAI)," he says. "Today these groups are the key partners behind every activity and success of Ghanacoop."

This co-operative of Ghanaians has now become a model that all immigrant communities would like to emulate and, having succeeded in creating such a successful enterprise, its members want to help other immigrants in Italy to come up with similar projects.

"We want to promote brain return and prove that Africa can develop through its own people returning from western countries," says McCarthy. "We would like to help all those who seek our help. Ghanacoop is ready to provide training and orientation to all Associations of immigrants interested in forming co-operatives."

Photos by Reggie Tagoe