Our Personality for April 2020 is Alexander Baffour-Kwakye, one of IBAG’s oldest members and the Country Manager of Della Valentina Office Ghana Ltd (dvo_Ghana); a Ghanaian-owned company which specializes in fit-out, office furniture and commercial flooring.
Alexander graduated with a Bachelor in Computer Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Paris Graduate School of Management. His career commenced working in the IT & Supply Chain departments of Nestle CWA Limited for about seven years.
In 2012, Alexander set out on his entrepreneurial journey when he started Della Valentina Office Ghana Limited from a 30 square meter shop with just a catalogue and zero product samples. Since then, dvo_Ghana has steadily progressed to be associated with premium quality in furniture solutions supported by a highly skilled team of proficient staff and a showroom located in Dzorwulu-Accra.
Alexander, now 38years old has carved out a niche for himself in a market which has older and very established competitors. He faced a lot of skepticism in his early years of operations but Alexander proved himself capable with every opportunity he was presented with. Running a business comes with accomplishments as well as challenges and Alexander has shouldered them all with diligence.
Alexander has chalked a number of successful projects. Notable of which includes the supply & installation of office furniture at the MTN HQ, ViVo Energy (Shell) HQ, Meridian Port Service( MPS -Tema Port) as well as other international projects in Africa. His other clients include Barclays Bank now ABSA bank, Aker Energy, Toyota Ghana Limited, Nestle CWA markets, among others. Having served as an employee in his previous life, Alexander attributes his successes to experience as well as a deep understanding of how things are done across various business functions. He believes in firm business systems among other things as a major indicator of sustainable growth.
In Alexander’s own words “Furnishing, like interior design is an art therefore to ensure client satisfaction, it requires a lot of attention to detail, a penchant for style, accurate measurements and adherence to specifications. My team takes great pride and joy in ensuring that together with the client’s input, we conceptualize a purpose fit design and identify the right furniture for each space. As a result, our clients are always pleased and highly recommend our services”. According to Alexander, the market penetration for his products and services so far has been encouraging so he is hopeful to expand and stay in business for the long haul. The staff at dvo_Ghana describe Alexander as diligent, thorough, a team player and down to earth.
During his leisure time, Alexander enjoys a good game of table tennis. He also thrives in meaningful conversations which add on to his knowledge base.
IBAG
Alexander’s affiliation with IBAG stems from his business relationship with Italy. dvo_Ghana is a franchise of DVO S.P.A based in the North of Italy; manufacturers of office furniture. In order for dvo_Ghana to be a one-stop shop for complete fit-out services, Alexander partnered with other Italian furniture titans like MILANI Srl, Aresline, Arte&D , Moving Srl for office chairs & loose furniture . dvo_Ghana also has sole distributorship for Shawcontract, a global company in the business of commercial flooring (carpet tiles, LVTs etc) headquartered in USA.
Alexander is hopeful that the network that comes with IBAG membership will further entrench his business activities in Ghana and Italy. He believes that business longevity is tied to the quality of an individual’s network, and the platform IBAG provides is immeasurable especially for astute and focused business people like himself, hence why he believes it will be hugely beneficial for persons of interest to join.
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