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TALENT: Arnold Sarfo-Kantanka (left) and friend model his designs

HE’S ONLY 25-years-old but Arnold Sarfo-Kantanka has already created a dynamic clothing and media company that celebrates his love for all things Ghanaian.

Starting the company to celebrate his heritage, in a society he believed barely referenced his culture, Sarfo-Kantanka decided to call his clothing brand, Me FiRi Ghana (I’m from Ghana).

“I was in my final year of university and I wanted to wear something which represented me,” he said. “All the clothing out there was boring and I couldn’t relate to it. One day it was as if the spirit of God came on me and said ‘do it now.’ So I decided to make clothes saying Me Firi Ghana, which means I’m from Ghana.”

AFRICAN PRIDE: ladies show off a selection of items from the Me Firi Ghana range

Unaware that his love for Ghana was something shared by many others – Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians alike – the student was overwhelmed by the positive responses of his peers.

“I wore my designs to university and I realised it was bringing people together.

People kept saying ‘chale’, which means friend, even though they weren’t from Ghana. People really liked it and wanted to buy it, so I started selling them through family and then through Facebook.”

Sharing his vision and his love for his country quickly transformed the young university student into an entrepreneur and unofficial ambassador for Ghana.

WE MEAN BUSINESS: Richard Branson met the Me Firi Ghana team

“I didn’t realise how much it would grow. From Facebook, I had to build a website and then a better website and now we’ve got a blog, won awards – it’s grown.”

For Sarfo-Kantanka, his clothing is more than just fabric. Each item tells a story about the future of Ghana and the young Ghanaian community, who, according to him, are key to maintaining Ghana’s culture.

“We are of a generation that wonders how we can connect with our country,” he says. “We can easily lose touch with our culture and the traditions that our parents practiced. When I was younger, I didn’t want to go to parties and funerals, or traditional events, and in school, you would get ridiculed because your name was Sarfo and not Bennett."

“But now that the Ghanaian football team and Afrobeats music is rising, people want to embrace the culture. I think it is imperative that we stay connected and use the intellectual capital that we learn in this country and transfer it to people back home, because there are systems and structures in place in this country that are definitely needed within the developing world, not just Ghana.”

Refreshingly, the clothes designer does practice what he preaches. Two years ago, he started a charity designed to help children in Ghana called What About Me (WAM).

EACH ONE TEAHC ONE: Sarfo-Kantanka’s charity What About Me (WAM) helps children in Ghana

“In 2010, myself and three friends went to Ghana to do some programmes with a few schools. We didn’t really know what we were going to do, but the experience drew us closer together and we saw that we were helping the school, the orphans and vulnerable children.”

A fervent crusader against poverty, Sarfo-Kantanka was chosen as a Global Poverty Ambassador in February by the London School of Economics, and was able to rub shoulders with Richard Branson and Bill Gates in the process. But it was a chance meeting in Ghana that spurred the businessman to start his fight against destitution.

“I went to Ghana in 2008 and got talking to someone who asked me for money. That’s when it dawned on me that England is a country full of opportunities. If I didn’t want to go school, I could get paid to go. If I didn’t want to get a job, I wouldn’t need to worry because the government would give me a little bit of change,” said the Croydon-born entrepreneur.

STYLE: A striking t-shirt

“We can sit there and do nothing, but WAM encourages people not just to give money but to utilize skills and impart them on young people. I’m just trying to help and do my part to help people become more sustainable.

“It’s about people being selfless; it’s not about you, it’s about what you can give and the best way is to give the best of yourself to someone else. An hour a day; anything will help.”

l For more information visit: www.mefirighana.com