Financial Security (FinSec) Series with Dr Philip Takyi: The “Naija” Endurance Dividend: What Africa’s oldest banks teach us about institutional resilience, financial stability, and sustainable growth

In the bustling markets of Accra and the farms of the Ashanti Region, a quiet revolution is underway.

“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell SIX friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell  SIX THOUSAND friends.”  Jeff Bezos 

For years, academic institutions taught Michael Porter’s business strategy for profitability, while businesses adopted it wholly. However, in an uncertain, fast changing and digital world, porter’s forces present some limitations.

The image of the accountant sitting behind a desk, recording transactions, balancing ledgers, and preparing financial statements at the end of the month or year is rapidly becoming outdated.

At the end of a long school day, a child sits at the dining table, staring at a page filled with numbers.

For many years now, I have had the privilege of working alongside St Nicholas Preparatory School in Tema New Town, handling much of its media coverage and media relations. It is a role I have carried out quietly, in the way such work is often done.

Workplace cultures are shaped by a plethora of organisational elements some of which are unscripted and are not painted with the brush of officialdom.

It has been a little over two months since Kenya hosted France’s Africa Forward Summit 2026 in Nairobi.