Despite Kwame Osei | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 February 1962 |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Known for | CEO of Despite Group of Companies |
| Children | Kennedy Asante Osei |
Osei Kwame Despite (born 2 February 1962) is a Ghanaian entrepreneur and a philanthropist with a foundation in music creation and knowledge of the broadcasting sector. [1] Osei-Kwame is the CEO of the Despite Firm Ltd, a trade company with subsidiaries in the media industry, including UTV, Peace FM, Okay FM, Neat FM and Hello FM in Kumasi. [2] [3] [4] [5] He was named Africa Entrepreneur of the Year at the African Achievers Awards in the United Kingdom in 2021. [6] [5] He was also honored with GH CAPTAIN's Award in 2019 for his contributions to the socio-economic development of the country. [7]
In the Ghanaian town of Wiamoase, he was born, in the Ashanti region. He began his career as a merchant in Dunkwa-On-Offin, Ghana's Central Region, selling music cassettes, feeding bottles, padlocks, and other items. After years of struggling to make ends meet in the countryside, he and his colleagues relocated to Lagos, Nigeria. [8]
In 1983, he returned to Ghana with other Ghanaians who had fled Nigeria due to the country's political unrest. Back to his country, he only had a trident cassette player and a chain-saw machine. He started a timber contracting business with the chain-saw machine, but it was smashed by a falling tree on his first business trip. [9] He eventually moved on to selling cassette tapes before diversifying his business. [10] [11]
To show his support for the local music industry and to prioritize Ghanaian culture, he moved into radio and founded the PeaceFM at Achimota Mile 7 Junction in 1999. [2] The station's experiments with the Akan language paid off, as radio listeners looking for local programming abandoned stations broadcasting primarily in the Queen's language on the 104.3 frequency.[ citation needed ] The radio industry flourished, culminating in the establishment of Hello FM in Kumasi and OkayFM in Accra, as well as peacefmonline.com. [12]
Now, the Despite Group of Companies (DGC) has the following companies;
Despite has a wife and nine children. Kennedy Osei Asante, his first son, is the General Manager of Despite Media. [17] In 2019, he married Tracy in an expensive ceremony that drew the attention of many people both inside and outside the country. [18] [19] [20] He is noted for collecting luxurious vehicles and has a great love for exotic cars. [21] He purchased a 3'000'000$ Bugatti Chiron in February 2022 to mark his 60th birthday, making him and Fkay one of just 5 individuals in Africa who own a Bugatti. [22]