Ghana reflects progress inparts of Africa, led by Africans

ACCRA, Ghana -- Coby Asmah is a success in a part of the world that is hardly ever equated with success.

The design and printing business he launched from his dining room table 14 years ago now employs 54 people. He drives a new gold sport utility vehicle, dresses as sharply as any Madison Avenue executive and vacations in the United States. And despite winning U.S. citizenship, he has chosen to stay in Ghana.

Asmah belongs to an Africa all but unknown outside the continent -- one of growth and business opportunity, with a tiny but rapidly spreading middle class.

Fifty years after Ghana became the first African country to gain independence, Africa's economies are expanding by 5.4 percent a year -- compared to a world average of 4.2 percent -- and are projected to hit almost 7 percent next year. Investments are up. Banking firm Merrill Lynch & Co. concluded that Africa now offers investors as much potential as Russia.

These signs of economic hope come as the world is increasingly aware of its broader stake in Africa. Rich countries fear any disruption in the flow of resources out of Africa, which now rivals the Middle East in the quantity of oil it sends to the United States. Terrorism has revealed the danger of failed states, and hundreds of thousands of African immigrants flee to America, Europe and the Middle East every year.

A worker at Type Company Ltd. made adjustments to a printing press Nov. 7 at the company's printing plant in Accra, Ghana. (Olivier Asselin ~ Associated Press)

The picture across the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa is still a patchwork. But progress, while fragile, is finding a foothold in spheres ranging from democracy to education. Perhaps most strikingly, today's developments are being led by Africans themselves.

There is a sense among many Africans that it is up to them to rethink their continent and get the West to do the same.

Signs of prosperity are everywhere in this country of about 23 million people on the west coast of Africa. New roads are choked with cars, construction cranes dominate the skyline and shops brim with televisions, air conditioners and luxury goods. Real estate prices in the capital, Accra, rival those of an average American city, with a four-bedroom home in a nice area selling for more than $500,000.

Asmah's office and printing press are located in a middle-class neighborhood of older homes converted for business.

Asmah, 42, was an artist in the Ministry of Education in 1993 when he first started selling graphic designs to friends. Soon he was ready to give up the secure government job, which for most of Africa's history was the hallmark of success.

He launched Type Company with money borrowed from family and friends. Business grew rapidly, so Asmah bought a state-of-the-art printing press and other equipment from Germany for more than $1 million. He diversified into security printing for banks, colorful packaging for local products and annual reports for dozens of businesses, which, like his, are homegrown and growing.

"Once you have a solution to someone else's problem, you have a business," said Asmah, whose polished appearance and calm demeanor project the image he wants for his high-end designs, despite a cluttered office full of computers and printers. "There is a lot of opportunity, because here, there is not a lot that is done right."