by Matthew Volfson, SEESALT Terra Senior Consultant, President, SEESALT+Kokrobite Program

In Kokrobite, Ghana

I decided to visit Ghana in preparation for research as part of my Undergraduate Research Award (URA) won from George Washington University's Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research (CUFR). My initial topic was researching a connection between artisanal mining and water quality. However, my topic of interest changed as I came to the Kokrobitey Institute in Kokrobite, Ghana. There, I noticed how many of the streets were filled with materials that were treated as trash but could actually be used for new products. I interviewed informal entrepreneurs like Evans and Efo who were actively turning materials bought from the local market such as scrap iron or plastics into products like bicycles and iron bowls respectively. These interviews and observations led me to conclude that a cleanup of trash was necessary and that this trash could be given to informal entrepreneurs to turn into value. Furthermore, as I connected with some colleagues as part of my application for the URA, I decided that I could put these connections to good use by facilitating a conference between them and informal entrepreneurs. Due to its flexibility and high potential for returns, I believe this event we executed can be a model for events around Ghana and the continent.

In order to prepare for the cleanup over 3 weeks, I had to find people in the local community who could help me. I connected with Priscilla Korkor Sewornu of the Kokrobitey Institute, Jonathan Jr. of the Pharmacy Boys, and Jonathan Sr., Jonathan Jr.'s mentor. Together, we planned for a day for the cleanup, July 5th, organized a budget for the materials needed for the cleanup (shown below), and sought participation from community leaders in the town by sharing flyers of the event. Priscilla helped secure suppliers for t-shirts, lunch, and provided the fliers for the event. Jonathan, Priscilla, and I first met with principals of 4 local schools, receiving confirmation that 50 or so children from each school would join us. Then Jonathan and I met with church leaders, sharing flyers with them and people on the way. We also met with the Adontehene, or second chief, sharing the poster with him as well. Finally, Jonathan mobilized his cohort of town cleaners, the Pharmacy Boys and other similar groups like the Brotherhood to join us.

Projected Cost of Future Event, Dec. 2025/Jan. 2026

In the end we managed to get 350-400 participants for our event including children from schools, Pharmacy Boys, and others. This was higher than our expected turnout of 200. Regardless, we provided sufficient t-shirts, basic lunch, water sachets, and gloves for 200 participants in accordance with our budget. The Pharmacy Boys also managed to help with a couple dozen rakes, shovels, and wheelbarrows for our event. We picked up enough trash to clean the main street in Kokrobite, Langma Road. We also cleaned side streets, raking old textiles from the ground, picking up water sachets, bottle caps, glass, and anything else we could find. Finally, we walked to the beach (Kokrobite is a coastal town), and tried to clean whatever was possible there. We noticed that much of the trash that came ashore originated from the ocean, coming to the realization that we can and should be a part of a larger global effort to clean the trash so that people can feel safe swimming in the beaches, supporting tourism in Kokrobite. After the clean up, We met with the Adontehene, local Member of Parliament (MP) Felix Akwetey Okle, and conducted interviews for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) explaining what we did and hopes for the future.

The next day, July 6th, I met with Priscilla, Jonathan Jr., Jonathan Sr, and Sebastian Appram, an expert with over 10 years of experience in the recycling sector with the ASASE Foundation, an NGO based in Ghana. Together, we prepared for the youth entrepreneurship contest. We agreed to bring together perhaps 10-20 youths in a place near the Kokrobite Basic School, encouraging them to create anything they would like using their imagination from plastic bottles and sachets. I myself created a bracelet and necklace from sachets and water labels. The winners of this contest would get the opportunity to propose their ideas to investors. Then it was envisaged that investors would give them feedback on their work, what was particularly interesting to them and what could be improved on.

Sebastian, the Pharmacy Boys, an informal entrepreneur named Solomon, Priscilla, and I all helped them create materials. 17 youths were split into two teams and given a couple pairs of scissors and managed to create 30 objects from sachets and bottled water. These objects included mini pots, a fully functional jumping rope, and a plant holder. The winning team was given the opportunity to give a mini pitch of their objects to investors so they can learn the value of entrepreneurship at an early age.

Before the weekend of July 5th, we worked together to prepare for an investor entrepreneur conference, which would ultimately be arranged after the youth entrepreneurship event. Jonathan Sr. helped connect me with leaders of authority in the community, like MP Okle and Chief Nii Offei, Jonathan Jr. connected me with the Adontehene. Meanwhile I connected with MP Francis Sosu, Kenneth Aidam of Danone, Ms. Deborah Kwablah of Nestlé, Dr. Michael Kumi of the Water Research Institute, and Akwasi Asante of the Ghana Revenue Service, among others. We hoped to connect these potential investors with informal entrepreneurs like Solomon, Evans, among others. Finally, we secured a venue for this conference in town, Big Milly's (a hotel and bar on the beach). The idea would be that the entrepreneurs propose their ideas and seek funding from investors, signing memorandums of understanding leading to further dialogue.

We executed the envisioned investor entrepreneur conference during the evening of July 6th. Representatives of MP Okle, Chief Offei, and the Adontehene were all in attendance. Ms. Kwablah of Nestlé, Dr. Kumi of the Water Research Institute, and Mr. Asante all attended virtually or via phone call. Informal entrepreneurs and the representatives introduced themselves and proposed their ideas to Ms. Kwablah of Nestlé, Dr. Kumi, and Mr. Asante. Informal entrepreneurs also proposed their ideas to the representatives of chiefs and MP Okle. Though they did not attend the conference, Mr. Aidam and MP Sosu are interested in supporting a repeat of our event in November and I remain in contact with them. Ultimately, all attendees of the conference shared their contact information. Two memorandums of understanding, one written and unwritten, were agreed upon between investors and entrepreneurs. One agreement was made during the conference and another was made after the conference. The one made afterwards was informal and between Chris Sosu, an investor breaking even on his PET processing business and Solomon, who reuses plastic as shown below. Chris's work is pictured in Figure 7, his desired machinery is pictured in Figure 6. Images of work done by other informal entrepreneurs are also shown as well.

We believe that this model, including the cleanup, youth entrepreneur contest, and investor entrepreneur meetings, can be replicated in other towns around Ghana and perhaps even in other countries on the continent. For instance, I connected with a youth from Tema, Ghana who expressed interest in the events' replication there. In our meeting, MP Sosu of Madina also told us that his town in Ghana would benefit from the implementation of such an event as he is already preparing a business association of informal entrepreneurs in that area. I remain in contact with him and others. We hope to repeat what we completed in July in either the month of November or, more likely, December but with more funding, measurement & evaluation mechanisms (e.g. trash collected in kg, change in water quality after cleanup, deals made valued in USD, etc.), and more people. Instead of our previous surpassed goal of 200 participants, we seek to bring together 500 participants by Q4 2025 or Q1 2026 to participate in our event.

Local volunteers work together to collect plastic waste

BTW our projected ROI for a 50k investment is around 20% per year, meaning you'd have your money back in 5.2 years.

This initiative perfectly aligns with our SEESALT philosophy of transforming environmental challenges into economic opportunities through community-driven innovation. By connecting waste management with entrepreneurship and investor networks, we're creating sustainable solutions that benefit both the environment and local economies.

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