From Unemployment to CEO: Meet the Ghanaian Behind the Smart Locker Transforming Package Delivery

• Godwin Agyapong is the founder of LocQar, a smart and efficient locker making package delivery and pickup easy
• The 32-year-old Ghanaian entrepreneur birthed the business idea in 2019 and became fully operational in 2021
• Agyapong opened up about his journey to building one of Ghana's most efficient package delivery and pickup systems

When Godwin Agyapong decided to venture into the technology industry, he was unemployed with little to no idea of how he would finance his business idea into reality.

But that didn't deter him from pursuing his goal to start a high-quality delivery and pickup system, which became known as LocQar.

At the time, it was just an idea inspired by the Amazon Locker and shot into reality following a tragedy that nearly claimed his life.

Education in the US and Ghana

Agyapong had returned to Ghana from the US with a degree from the California State University, where he studied Communication and minored in International Business.

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Before moving to the US to study, he had received his basic, junior, and senior high school education in his native country Ghana.

Agyapong told YEN.com.gh that he had his early education at St Peter's before heading to St John's Preparatory in Osu for junior high school (JHS).

He subsequently completed Accra Academy, where he studied General Arts, he said.

While in junior and senior high school, Agyapong got involved in other school activities such as football and music. He discovered he could rap at St Peter's.

After graduating from the university, Agyapong became an integral worker at Swissport Inc at San Francisco International Airport Califonia and subsequently worked in the construction industry.

Returning to Ghana

With the experience and a degree, he returned to Ghana in 2020 to start from scratch. He had no job but only ideas and qualifications, including a certificate in project management.

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The desperate times birthed LocQar, a smart and efficient system that temporarily holds packages for some time. Whether the item is bought online, in shops, or sent from a friend or client, the recipient of the package receives a pin code to pick up the item whenever they are ready.

The innovation saves time, saves business delivery costs, is time-efficient, and solves Ghana's addressing system, said Agyapong.

Aside from Amazon Locker, the founder, and CEO of one of Ghana's innovative delivery and pickup systems noted that he is motivated by a quest to always look for ways to improve systems to make them efficient. "I made a career out of it.''

''But the motivation for this innovation came as a result of my coming to Ghana, a friend giving me an item to give to a family member in the US and unfortunately for me, I had to wait for hours even though the person told me that they were close by,'' he recalled.

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The idea was to provide a solution to delays in transporting items with the help of a time-efficient and convenient system.

Agyapong and his team investigated what was already out there, and they came out with the Smart Locker System, he said.

Components of LocQar

The Smart Locker System is structured like a safety deposit box equipped with two civilian cameras - one facing the person going to pick the item and the other monitoring the locker. The system has an alarm that blows if someone attempts to break into it.

Funding the business

Agyapong noted that he worked as an Uber driver to save up towards financing the idea into reality. ''When Covid struck in 2020, it gave me time to rediscover myself and decide in what I wanted to invest my time and resources,'' he said.

The business became fully operational in 2021 working with a team of like-minded professionals.

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After nearly a year, the business caught the attention of Ghana's Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah. Agyapong's brand received a boost on the social media accounts of the minister and the official pages of the Ministry of Information.

The brand benefited from the significant exposure, attracting investors who expressed interest in working with his company.

Growing amid challenges

Like many Ghanaian businesses, Agyapong's brand is dealing with systemic challenges impeding the fast growth of his young startup.

Nonetheless, he is focused and resolved to expand the business while introducing new aspects of the brand.

"We're also working on becoming visible in Nigeria. One of our major projects is to introduce a payment system that would allow people to make payments for products on the websites of big brands such as Apple and Amazon using momo," he said.

The goal is to have a locker in every city in Ghana, he said.

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Ghanaian behind Sparkxx Foods & Beverages

In other stories on YEN.com.gh, Derrick Yiiyi Annoh, a Ghanaian entrepreneur and business owner, is the brain behind the popular snack brand, Sparkxx Foods & Beverages, a company that produces flavoured packaged chips.

Annoh's quest to leave a legacy and memorial in the sands of time stoked his passion to start his business from his mother's kitchen with a team of trusted friends.

Though he had mouthwatering offers after graduating with a degree in Psychology from the University of Ghana, he turned down the offers to start small in 2017, he said. And gradually made his way up to success.

Source: YEN.com.gh