From side hustle to 16 stores – a retail entrepreneur’s story

Interview with Charles Antwi-Boahen
FOUNDER and CEO, KAB-FAM

Lives in: Ghana

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Charles Antwi-Boahen is the founder of Kab-Fam, an electronics and home appliance retailer that has grown from humble beginnings to a 16-store chain across Ghana. But getting there was no easy feat. From power cuts that crippled sales to a volatile economy that tested his resolve, Antwi-Boahen has faced an array of challenges along the way.

How we made it in Africa editor-in-chief Jaco Maritz spoke with him to hear how he built the business – and the lessons he learned on his journey.

Topics discussed during the interview include:

• Spotting an opportunity in air conditioning
• Overcoming early challenges
• How Facebook marketing became a game changer
• The importance of always selling
• Entrepreneurship lessons learned

Watch the full interview below: (only available on howwemadeitinafrica.com)

Interview summary:

In 2012, Charles Antwi-Boahen was working as a salesman for an air-conditioning company in Ghana’s capital, Accra. It was not an easy job. The company specialised in central air-conditioning systems for large developments such as hotels, office blocks and hospitals – contracts that were hard to secure. Antwi-Boahen did not receive a salary; he was paid only a small allowance, with most of his earnings meant to come from commissions.

While in the industry, he noticed a persistent demand for split air conditioners – smaller systems with indoor and outdoor units, common in homes and small businesses. However, his employer did not sell these systems.

Seeing an opportunity, Antwi-Boahen began searching for suppliers of split air conditioners. He found an appliance distributor called Electroland, which dealt in brands like Samsung. He struck a deal with them to refer buyers and receive a commission on sales. Before long, he was selling not only air conditioners but also televisions, washing machines, fridges and even mobile phones.

This side hustle transformed his financial situation. “When I started dealing with the distributor, everything changed,” he recalls. “I was making money on a daily basis.”

Antwi-Boahen aggressively marketed the products online, using platforms such as Google Trader, the now-defunct classified ads service launched by Google in some African countries. “It was just producing phenomenal results,” he says.

Eventually, he quit his job to focus full-time on selling Electroland’s products.

After about a year, Electroland’s founder offered him a $60,000 interest-free loan to launch his own retail business selling their products. He had five years to repay the loan. Antwi-Boahen accepted the offer.

Opening the first store

At the end of 2014, Antwi-Boahen opened the first Kab-Fam store at Darkuman Junction in Accra. He had no experience in choosing profitable retail locations. “It was a gamble,” he says. “There was no certainty that it was going to work.”

The premises required extensive renovations, and with no experience in shop design, he simply copied the layout of other stores.

However, just as he began trading, electricity blackouts in Ghana – caused by power supply shortages – worsened. Frequent blackouts often left homes and businesses without power for up to 24 hours at a time. With electricity unreliable, customers were not exactly rushing to buy appliances.

“It had a huge toll on the business … It was just heart-wrenching. I had sleepless nights,” he says.

Yet he still had to repay the $60,000 loan.

To survive, Antwi-Boahen leaned even more heavily into online marketing. He turned to local classified sites such as Tonaton. “No matter the challenges, you have to sell,” he says.

He says everyone must decide how much success they want, and while most challenges are valid reasons to fail, entrepreneurs must choose not to let that happen.

A Facebook-fuelled recovery

In 2016, Antwi-Boahen began placing paid advertisements for the company’s products on Facebook, marking a dramatic turning point. “Sales skyrocketed,” he says.

At the same time, the power situation in Ghana began to stabilise.

Antwi-Boahen points out that creating a high-performing Facebook ad is not as simple as it might seem. It requires careful targeting of the right audience, crafting engaging visuals and messaging, and then continually tweaking these elements based on performance data.

Over time, he has developed a deep understanding of paid marketing on Facebook and Instagram. “I’ve gained so much experience with advertising on social media,” he says. “I sleep, I eat, I drink marketing.”

Even today, Antwi-Boahen personally oversees these campaigns. “I don’t think anybody else can handle that side of the business better than myself,” he says, though his team manages responding to comments and other related tasks. He describes his knowledge of paid social media campaigns as one of the company’s trade secrets.

Expanding the store footprint

Buoyed by strong sales, in 2016, Kab-Fam opened its second store in Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city and a commercial hub. More stores followed, and today the company has 16 outlets across the country. Some of these properties are owned outright, while others are rented.

Antwi-Boahen also notes that the company’s e-commerce sales have grown significantly and says he hopes this trend continues. “It will help in the sense that we wouldn’t have to go around opening branches all over the place – that’s a lot of work and a lot of resources.”

Navigating a tough economy

Ghana’s challenging macroeconomic environment in recent years has posed serious obstacles for Kab-Fam.

Between the start of 2022 and November 2024, the Ghanaian cedi plummeted from about 6 to over 16 to the US dollar. The collapse was driven by domestic and global factors. Ghana defaulted on its debt in 2022, and a swelling fiscal deficit shook market confidence and triggered capital flight. Inflation worsened from 31.5% in 2022 to 40.3% in 2023, driven mainly by rising food prices and currency depreciation.

For Kab-Fam, which sells imported products, the weaker currency meant appliances became much more expensive in local currency terms – just as customers were grappling with high inflation. Antwi-Boahen had planned to open 30 stores by 2027, but these plans had to be put on hold.

More recently, however, the economic picture has improved. Since taking office in January 2025, President John Mahama’s government has introduced spending cuts and tax reforms. The currency has recovered by over 40% this year, reaching about 10 cedis to the dollar by June 2025.

Antwi-Boahen sees this as a positive for his business. “We hope and pray it goes down further and is sustained,” he says. With macroeconomic stability, he believes Kab-Fam can continue on its planned growth trajectory.

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Kab-Fam Ghana founder and CEO Charles Antwi-Boahen’s contact information

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