BBC NEWS | Business | Ghana trumps mighty Microsoft

A nice story on BBC News about Ghanaian software company S.O.F.T. and its founder Hermann. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Hermann while in Ghana, as S.O.F.T. is a GeekCorps partner company. And yes, it’s a great example of a software company that has successfully targetted the local market first, and wants to expand from there. I think this type of success should be a great lesson to the multitude of developing world IT companies hell-bent on outsourcing. Look at your local market first. Develop the necessary skills, and then expand. Throwing yourself into extended certification programmes to convince potential US customers to invest, is a recipe for a long, hard trek.

Starting with a battered old personal computer in his bedroom, Mr Hesse developed Ghana’s own software firm which, for the moment at least, is holding Microsoft at bay.