'40 Under 40' winner Basil Anthony seeks to revolutionalise Uganda’s construction industry
Award-winning Ghanaian-British business personality and philanthropist Basil David Anthony has arrived into the country for what he describes as a mission to revolutionalise Uganda’s construction industry.
“I’m not just planning to invest in Uganda but also creating a connection. We have been to Kenya. This year, we have 16 new colours that we will be exhibiting at the Uganda Buildcon International Expo. We are exhibiting to look for people in the construction industry, retailers, and distributors and let them understand why they need to use this flooring as opposed to tradition flooring that uses marble tiles,” Basil said in an interview with Nile Post.
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The young business guru, who boasts almost 20 years of experience in various business sectors including flooring, information technology, marketing, events, entertainment and travel, is in the country for the third edition of the Uganda Buildcon International Expo, the biggest building and construction industry tradeshow in the country that runs from tomorrow, August, 8 to Saturday, 10 at UMA Show Grounds in Lugogo, Kampala.
Here is Basil’s interview in full;
What is the genesis of your dream and how have you achieved it?
I was born and raised in Ghana by a single parent, my mother. I had a humble upbringing and studied in Ghana up to secondary school level. Personally, I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit which I acquired through my British father’s genetics. His people were merchants.
I realised the life I lived with my mother in Ghana was not good hence the desire to travel abroad. After secondary school, I left the country for greener pastures.
I didn’t pursue university education. I went to London, got a job and saved some money. Then I decided it was time to return to Ghana.
I don’t believe in living abroad for ever, especially when you are an employee. At some point, the system will lock you in. All our people who left before us were never able to return. As a Sagittarius (the ninth sign of the zodiac), I don’t want to be boxed in, I want to be free.
So, I returned to Ghana for entrepreneurial opportunities. I had done some courses in computer and web development at a College in London. I used that knowledge to start a website development company in Ghana in 2006 which was involved in designing websites, registering domain names and hosting services.
After a decade, I travelled to Dubai and started importing cars and electronics to Ghana. While there, I chanced on flooring. That took more interest.
It is a very new field, a lot of people weren’t into it and it was very challenging. I have always believed that the higher the risk, the higher the reward. So, I created a company called Modern Floors in 2017.
Tell us about Modern Floors
Since launching, we have expanded the brand to more than 10 countries in Africa, Middle East, Asia and Europe with both online and physical distribution channels, and an Amazon approved brand distribution.
We have opened four showrooms in Ghana in Ghana and has also led various social impact initiatives, such as feeding and refreshing over 200 children, supporting deprived girls in Ghana and empowering both male and female artisans through skill-based training. Eventually, we opened our headquarters in Dubai within the busiest building construction material and home decor hub in the United Arab Emirates.
Why are you interested in Uganda?
East Africa is rising. East Africa is growing. With peace, economic stability and a good investment environment, East Africa countries are on the rise. When “2024 Africa Forty under 40” awards brought me to Kenya, I realised we have not been paying attention to East Africa. West Africa is sinking and East Africa is rising. Ghana and Nigerian economies are sinking.
We used to be giants but now we are even scared to play Namibia in a football match. You can see where I’m coming from. East Africa has that spark which West Africa used to have before.
I’m not just planning to invest in Uganda but also creating a connection. We have been to Kenya.
This year, we have 16 new colours that we will be exhibiting at the Uganda Buildcon International Expo. We are exhibiting to look for people in the construction industry, retailers, and distributors and let them understand why they need to use this flooring as opposed to tradition flooring that uses marble tiles.
What is your opinion of the Ugandan flooring market and why do you think it needs a revolution?
The flooring gap is not just Uganda, it’s African. You know the Asians have bombarded us with so much normal tiling. Especially East Africa here, your climate does not go very good with ceramic tiles.
It is very slippery, puts a lot of weight on buildings and makes construction expensive. But our tiles are modern and can be easily transported. We are no longer in the age of woollen carpets because they smell, they get dirty and can cause respiratory illnesses. We want when you take a picture in your room, it is pleasant, exquisite and beautiful. Before, you would have to go for real wooden flooring which is expensive. So that is the gap we are closing.
How will you revolutionise Uganda’s flooring industry?
We are looking for partners that will support us. We understand the business landscape, so we are looking for partners willing to share our brand so that they can open a modern floors showroom in Uganda. We have done this for close to 8 years, we have the blueprint.
Anybody who is going to do this business will not start from scratch, we are handing you a blueprint. The dos and don’ts are already there. The basic structure is already there so it is easy for someone who wants to do this to move faster. We are supporting you, we are not letting you crawl.
What does it take for someone to partner with you?
It would be advantageous if the person or company has some knowledge in building and construction materials. They will already have a network of clientele in that field. Secondly, having a good location for a showroom. The rest is your business approach, openness etc. paperwork comes last. The connection, the understanding between us is what matters most. I believe our word is our bond. This is our continent, we need to build it with trust.
What is the secret behind your success story?
One of the secrets is my relationship with my staff. If I go to my showroom and buy lunch, I don’t buy it just for myself. My staff are at the forefront of the business. It’s during these interactions that I get to hear new ideas or what customers want or complain about. It is this relationship that brings forth new information that will help a business. Things like employee of the month, employee of the year or location of the month or outings like sports motivate the staff and make them feel special. Other strategies include good money management, persistence and resilience.
That is how I have been able to win awards in Ghana including; 2024 Africa Forty under 40 Winner in Home & Decor Category, Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2023, Ghana, Ranked Top 50 Young CEOs in 2023, Ghana and 2023 People’s Choice Award Winner @ Forty under 40 Ghana.
After all these achievements, how are you giving back to society?
This year, a sense of unfulfilment began to set in. You have achieved so much but it begins to become meaningless if it’s not impactful. So many people are reaching out to me for help and mentorship. I realised there is a huge gap that needs to be breached.
The youth need real positive and inspiring stories. So I decided to take the impactful passion of inspiring African youth so that we can empower them to have more people creating jobs than those looking for jobs. Our company also provides world class expert training and installation for all our products.
To address this sense of unfulfilment, I founded “Africa’s Next Young Millionaire”, a reality TV show which we launched two months ago. We were supposed to close registration last month but extended it so that Ugandans get a chance to register as well. I’m here to create awareness around it so that those who have not heard of it can hear about it.
We will use this reality show to help finance, mentor and expose alot of entrepreneurs that have great ideas to the rest of the world. That is what connects Basil Anthony to Uganda right now.
We are thinking about the youth. It is going to be very attractive because youth today need something appealing. It is going to test their resilience. We are going to come up with a winner for each country but all the participants will get exposure. It’s gone be great. It’s gone be fantastic.
What message do you have for young entrepreneurs across the continent?
I will tell them my story. They need a relatable, skill-able and believable story not a story that sounds like magic. We need to understand their ideas. They need to be organic and authentic. They shouldn’t be thinking about foreign problem solving ideas.
They need to solve problems around them. Many of them because of social media and internet, everyone is trying to put content online. Most of our youth are getting depressed when they realise that the content in other countries is paid higher than that in African countries. For example, what Facebook or Google pay for views in Europe or America, when you compare it to African market, it is so small. When your own region doesn’t have big advertisers, your pay is small.
Don’t adopt or copy what is going on outside, just look around you, identify the problem that you see around you and provide a solution. In Ghana, many people wanted to start websites but they didn’t have visa cards.
So, I saw a gap and filled it. I saw event organisers struggling with marketing events, that’s why I started TicketGhana. We saw everybody complaining about cheap tiles getting spoilt and then wooden tiles being expensive, so we started Modern Floors to provide an affordable alternative. We decided to bring in the plastic tiles which look and feel like wooden ones. They are reusable and recyclable. The world is moving to a sustainable era.
Would you be willing to partner with Ugandan women entrepreneurs to boost their businesses?
The job of a businessman is always to go with the money. That is the basic thing. The idea has to be laudable, their projections have to make sense and who will say no to that? If you approach somebody for a business partnership and the person says no, it means realistically on paper, it is not making sense.
The idea is 10% (phase one), so, we need to put into practice and see if it works. This is where youth lack, they are just caught up in the idea and not thinking about it practically and realistically. It is a business and it is supposed to make profits. Many youth lack that calculative foresight.
How are you inspiring the next generation?
The first step is the Africa’s Next Young Millionaire reality show which will give exposure and a platform to entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas.
I have also started writing books. One of them is called “Dream Bigger”. It is supposed to inspire the youth with stories of people who are like them. Read the book and find out where it resonates with you.
I usually give out this book for free during public engagements. I launched it in Ghana but haven’t put it online yet. During career days in school, you rarely see a child coming dressed as an entrepreneur because the teenagers are thinking far. We need to engage them.
This book is a step in the right direction. It inspires the young people to pursue the path to being an entrepreneur. They need to know that entrepreneurship can give them the luxurious life they admire.
Most of them are not driven by the career path but the need to live luxurious lives. By the young people reading this book, hopefully, we can transform Africa one entrepreneur at a time.