Seated in his office in the Accra suburb of East Legon, Louis Amenyo Adanuty is deep into his phone, keeping a keen eye on the latest developments in the fintech world. In the adjoining offices, his dedicated team works diligently, solving complex IT challenges that power their fintech platform. Together, they are a powerhouse.

But the journey to the top for the 41-year-old CEO of software Development Company—TekSol—wasn't exactly a walk in the park, and it was not the work he had initially set out to do.

The Journey Into IT

Even before entering his teenage years, Amenyo had a well-defined career aspiration: to become a medical professional. After graduating from Bishop Herman Senior High School in the Volta Region, where he studied science, he relocated to Accra to join his family in pursuit of this dream.

While waiting for the results of his Senior High School exams, Amenyo, then 18 years old, enrolled in a six-month diploma course in hardware engineering. When the results were finally out, he had scored high enough to qualify for medical school. But there was one big problem: his family lacked the financial muscle to cover the cost of admission forms, let alone support him in his pursuit of the course.

Determined to find a way, Amenyo secured employment at a pharmacy as a dispensing officer and a computer technician to finance his education. He worked there for a little over three years, occasionally repairing malfunctioning laptops for customers who visited the pharmacy to buy medication. Yes, he got paid, but what he saved was still not sufficient to cover the expenses for the next level of his education.

It was an encounter with one customer that would forever alter the course of his life. His name was Martin Abankwah, a computer programmer, according to Amenyo.

Martin had informed Amenyo about an IT consultancy job opening at the World Bank and assisted him in submitting his application just a few hours before the deadline. It was a role typically reserved for individuals with higher academic qualifications, such as PhDs and Masters, who resided in Africa.

Although he did not meet the qualifications, Amenyo, then 24 years old, successfully secured the position and left Ghana for the USA to begin the work.

After a two-year stint at the World Bank, initially based in Washington, D.C., he returned to Ghana with increased confidence and better financial status.

Despite having the means to pursue his initial dream of a medical career, his experience at the World Bank led him down a different path: IT.

Eager to acquire more knowledge to start this tech journey, he decided there and then to register for a degree programme in Information and Communication Technology at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration [GIMPA]. It paid off.

In 2009, he founded TekSol, originally known as Softpro Consult with minimal external support or capital. Facing the challenges of limited resources and the absence of a formal office setting did not kill his drive.

Four years after TekSol’s launch, Amenyo returned to GIMPA for his MBA in Finance, seeking to further expand his knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of the IT and finance industry.
In 2014, the company made waves with the introduction of FundPlus, an investment and fund management software designed specifically for Ghana's investment banking sector. This local solution was timely as it addressed a market gap that foreign companies had monopolized.

As the company's brand grew, so did its customer base. Amenyo and his team started providing IT solutions to notable institutions, including the Ghana Armed Forces, UMB Capital, IFS Financial Services, SIC Financial Services, Blue Finance and NDK Capital.

TekSol's continued contributions to the tech industry in the country did not go unnoticed.

In 2018 and 2019, the company received the "Ghana Club100" award for being one of the outstanding firms in the Ghanaian business landscape. Amenyo himself was named the Outstanding Software Entrepreneur by the Entrepreneurs Association of Ghana during that time frame.

But just when the company was beginning to make great progress, it faced a severe setback. The 2019 financial sector cleanup and the COVID-19 pandemic led to the loss of seventy per cent of its clients and millions of cedis.

A New Beginning

However, Amenyo remained focused and quickly strategized with his team for the future. In 2020, he founded Eganow, the fintech arm of TekSol which he says will be instrumental in revolutionizing the financial services industry globally.

Eganow is registered in both the USA and the UK and is in the process of entering new markets, specifically in Cote d'Ivoire and other parts of Africa.
In 2022, Amenyo achieved yet another remarkable feat. He was selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants by 1000 Black Voices in collaboration with the UK Department of Trade to participate in its Accelerator program for Black tech founders.

In 2023, just a year later, his game-changing projects in the field of IT led to him being honoured with the African Tech Business Leader award at the inaugural Technology Information Confederation (TICON Africa) Conference held in Entebbe, Uganda.

Today, TekSol boasts a staff strength of more than thirty-six.

More than a decade after venturing into the tech space, Amenyo's company continues to assert itself as a front-runner in the fintech industry within the country. The tech entrepreneur says he is not only determined to enhance his company's reputation, but he’s also on a mission to inspire the next generation of tech entrepreneurs.