Thank you Mr. Ernesto Taricone for buiding Africa

Q.1 What have been the major steps in your professional career?

I came to Ghana in 1968 with my father and two brothers when I was still in my teens. My father started companies in industries that interested him including pharmaceuticals and furniture. However, his main interest, which I inherited, was in infrastructure and property development. He acquired vast portions of land, which he intended to develop into residential communities, recreational areas, and commercial zones. Unfortunately, my father passed away in 1979 before many of his dreams were realized. Shortly after, my youngest brother also died leaving only two of us to continue what my father had begun.I decided to stay in Ghana, because right from the word go, I loved the country and its hospitable people. It was difficult in the beginning because I was young, I had lost my father and Ghana was experiencing some political instability. But, I was determined to carry on my father's vision and remain in Ghana because I had already grown to feel it was my home.Today, I thank God that I stayed. Ghana now offers so many opportunities and I have been lucky to establish several successful businesses here, especially in the development industry, including aluminium systems, prefabricated concrete technology, and wood processing. The problem now is only how to achieve so much in so little time! I am lucky that my children have an interest in what I do and hope they will carry on what I started, just as I took over from my father.Of all of my business interests, my passion is for estate development. It was not until the 90s, after the experience of developing for others, that I had the opportunity to start developing the land that my father had acquired. I have started the township that he envisaged here in Ghana and called it Trasacco Valley, after a town in Italy where my family comes from. Now both my homes are fused into one.Trasacco Valley is a residential golf estate with recreational facilities and a commercial zone. My dream is to create a mini town within Accra. One of my children is already involved and the others will join her soon. I have talented and professional people working for me and all my other companies are involved in the development. Occupation of the estate is on the increase and I am very happy with the way things are going. I think it will take about 10 years to complete, but I am not in a rush. I am more concerned that it is a prestigious project for which I will be remembered for and that it will contribute, in some small way, to the development of this country for which my intentions and hopes are good. I am also proud that I can provide employment for so many Ghanaians.

Q.2 How many employees do you currently have?
We have about 1,650 employees.

Q.3 Do you think your staff will increase in the near future?
I believe we will be able to employ more than 10,000 people in the next 4 years. I believe Ghana is going to boom in the next 2 years and am confident that the country will not suffer from the political instability that other countries in Africa are currently experiencing. Ghanaians are naturally democratic and peaceful people and it would take severe hardship before another uprising. For a long time the leaders of this country have concentrated on strengthening the stability and the economy of the country. The previous administration concentrated on that and I am certain that the new government will continue to do so in the interests of the people. You can witness the new confidence growing in the country from the number of talented Ghanaians that left Ghana but are steadily coming back to their home.Although I am a foreigner, Ghanaians are very kind to strangers and this makes their country a wonderful place to be. I sincerely wish this country all the best because it deserves it. One of the main reasons I am here is to make money. But I will always put it back into this country in the form of developments.

Q.4 Can you explain to us how was this project initiated?
Well, it has always been my dream to start this project since the 70s when the land was acquired. I waited until the 90s because that was when I had amassed all the elements, including experience, expertise, and funds for the project. By waiting for so long, I suffered a bit because a lot of the land was encroached upon in the interim. However, I still have a lot to work with, as the land will accommodate about 1,000 large homes. I am making moves to acquire more lands despite what has happened. I believe the authorities' concern about the land acquisition problems are sincere and they are aware how much large projects like this can help the economy and infrastructure development in Ghana, so I don't anticipate the same problems. Also, I have a lot more experience now!

Q.5 Did your father acquire the land with the idea of establishing these estates?
Yes, he inspired me and his memory has motivated me.

Q.6 What is the level of investment put into this project?
The overall project investment will be about 400 million dollars when we include the golf course, commercial and recreational zones as well as infrastructure and the dwelling homes themselves. I have already invested 9 million dollars and am hoping that the sales we make will naturally help to finance at least the residential units. At the moment, I am happy with the level of sales, which have been to local Ghanaians and expatriate Ghanaians alike. However, should sales slow down, I am happy to keep financing the project until it picks up. Eventually, I will need other investors, especially when it comes to the commercial and recreation zone, where we will have to move quickly.

Q.7 Do you have any remark on the other estate developers?
It is good that there are many other estate developers as Ghana is in need of housing. One of the estate developers that I most admire is Regimanuel Gray Ltd. This company has been developing in Ghana for a long time and has provided a large number of homes for people at reasonable prices and quality.

Q.8 How many houses do you expect to sell every year?
It is difficult to predict now. Even though the atmosphere is relaxed and everyone is pleased with the smooth political transition, people are still waiting a while before making large investments. However, from the research I received from my daughter, I feel we can sell about 50 houses this year.
The President held a press conference and gave a speech for his first 100 days in office. I think internationally and locally, people will be looking at how things are going to progress in the next 9 – 12 months. I think that realistically, it will take about 2 years before everyone will have absolute confidence in the stability and the economy of Ghana. And that is when we can accurately predict between 250 – 300 sales a year.

Q9 You were talking about accessing the estate from a fly-over on the motorway. How will this affect the estate, and has the government shown any interest?Obviously, the saleability and value of our houses will increase dramatically if there is a fly – over on the motorway and if this is the primary access to the estate. We have already started making moves and the Ghana Highways Authority has shown us the plans that have been approved for two fly-over on the motorway. The Government has indicated its interest in traffic management and infrastructure development and has expressed their happiness for the private sector to get involved if they can, which is good for us.

Q10 Could you please delineate for our readers the infrastructure within Trasacco Valley, and who will supply this infrastructure?
We will provide the entire infrastructure for the estate. We will also ensure, at all cost, that the quality and level of the infrastructure matches the quality of the homes and is in line with my philosophy of aesthetics. Our roads are grand and generously proportioned. They all have covered storm drains; there are pedestrian pavements and streetlamps carefully aligned along the roads. Our electricity cables are underground. Even though this is much more expensive, aesthetically, it is more pleasing. We have a centralized main sewage treatment plant rather than individual house septic tanks, which are common in Ghana. The treated water from this can be used for irrigation. My aim is to go beyond the standard requirements for infrastructure development so that the estate is synonymous with quality and luxury. Even when we have sold the houses, we shall retain control over the communal areas and infrastructure so that we have a continued interest in the maintenance of the estate.Other services we intend to offer, apart from the maintenance, are security; garbage disposal; door-to-door delivery of post (instead of the post box system). We are in the process of negotiating for a Trasacco Valley branch of Ghana Post and Ghana Police on site.We just want to provide a clean and decent environment for people to live in.

Q.11 Do you build your houses in advance or do you build them according to the customer's choice?
Some are built in advance in anticipation for those that need immediate occupation and some are built to order. We have a wide variety of ready made designs and homes, and we only build a couple so that there is a lot of variety on the estate. We also offer a tailor – made service for those who are looking for something different and original. A lot of people feel they have saved enough money and really want their dream home. Together with the help of our architects and craftsmen, we try to provide it for them.

Q.12 Do you us any sub-contractors?
We do not use sub contractors simply because of guarantee quality and delivery time, we need to have complete internal control. I have put together a team of talented professionals and craftsmen that work in house. We have training schemes so that as we expand, we have a workforce already trained by us in the skills needed to build our houses. Also, a lot of my other companies provide everything for the estate including concrete products, aluminium products, wooden products (windows, doors, finishes), roofing tiles and paints. I always see to it that we never use below standard products and that materials arrive on time!

Q.13 How would you compare your prices with the ones of your competitors, whether local or international?
Even though our prices are considered to be higher than the other estate developers in Ghana, in terms of the materials, finishes, infrastructure and packages that come with the house, we are very competitive.We try to offer the same quality available abroad and to do that here, our prices may be slightly higher. However, we also use wet construction as opposed to dry wall construction that is now standard in the US and most parts of Europe. Wet construction is actually a more solid and durable type of construction but is also more expensive and time consuming, which is why it has been discarded. Additionally, a lot of the infrastructure costs have been put up by us privately, which is not what happens abroad. All these could contribute to our prices being slightly higher.

Q.14 How long does it take you to build a house?
For a ready-made house design it takes us about 6 – 8 months. If the house is tailor-made, it varies and could take up to 12 months.

Q.15 When you said that you have 30% locals and 70% Ghanaians from abroad that have come back as buyers of your 40 houses, does it mean that you are targeting outsiders as well?
Of course, we have to target outsiders as well because we have a lot of houses to sell and the market here cannot take them all. We have set in motion a standard marketing strategy, although in Ghana the most powerful advertising tool is word of mouth.

Q.16 How about other nationals who might be interested?
Are you also going to get to them by word-of-mouth?I'm sure that will contribute, but a different strategy has been developed to target other nationals and we will begin that shortly.

Q.17 Are you going to take advantage of the fact that there are few short-term rentals here in Ghana and fill that niche-market?
Our priority is to sell large luxury villas. However, if we really see that there is a market for short-term accommodation, we will develop a product to satisfy that demand. Probably it will take the form of condominiums, which individuals can rent.

To visit the Homepage and see the great realisation of this man in Ghana, please go to:
www.trasaccovalley.com