‘’Sika’’ or ‘’Jw3t33’’ are very popular terms used to caption money or riches in many Ashanti or Akan parts of Ghana. A rich person, known as ‘’sikanyin’’ in twi represents someone who has amassed so much wealth that he/she stands out in community or the society. Some have even reached national and international status. One overwhelming fact about these individuals is the fact that a greater chunk of them are Akans, more specifically Ashanti’s. Then this question pops up. Why are the Ashanti’s the richest group of Ghanaians? Jumia Travel, Africa’s leading online travel agency attempts to examine possible reasons for this popular assumption.
Land of Gold – Historically, we can confidently say the Ashanti’s are by far the richest sect of Ghanaians by birth. Born into riches, they are destined for wealth by inheritance. Many Ashanti’s acquire their starting capital from their fathers and forefathers. They have something to build on from the start. The Ashanti Kingdom is also popular called ‘’the land of gold’’ because it houses the biggest mines in the country. The obuasi gold mine has for many decades been a hub for Ghana’s gold mining activities elevating the country to a very good standing as one of Africa’s leading gold producing countries. Have you ever watched an Ashanti ceremony? The full regalia worn by the chiefs and kinsmen will dazzle you. Expensive Kente with very beautiful gold ornaments clearly depict how rich these group of people are. Other rich minerals are also mined here. A look at the top richest men in Ghana clearly shows us also that most of the rich folk are Ashanti’s.
Hardwork – Another reason that may be attributed to Ashanti’s being the richest Ghanaians is hard work. Indisputably, the Ashanti’s who are spread all over the country are much more involved in businesses and work extremely hard for their money. You will hardly find an Ashanti without a job. Either self employed or working with a firm. Many of them also learn a trade. No wonder the biggest open market in Ghana can be found there. They are naturally born traders and are very good at what they do. Give an Ashanti anything and expect them to sell it at a very good price. They don’t relent until the work is done and they have their monies worth for the product or service rendered. They work very hard and hence it comes as no surprise that most of them are successful and rich.
Risk Takers – Fearless, aggressive, and smart are some words that can be used to describe the Ashanti’s way of doing business. However, the most appropriate thing to say may be that they are risk takers. They dive in when they see a business opportunity. This may occasionally be detrimental and they may be on the losing end but trust them to come out on tops on most occasions. Most successful businessmen and women are the ones who take risks and venture into the unknown, work hard and make a way even when the path to success looks gloomy. If there are any group of people in Ghana who will readily explore an opportunity, then it’s the Ashanti’s.
Support for each other – Nana Kofi goes to the USA to work. After 10 years he makes it and settles down. Then he comes back home to take Afia Kobi who is his niece along with him. She too works hard and after a while comes back to Ghana to take her nephew Kwabena Yeboah out of Ghana to work and make some money. The cycle continues till every member of the family is in a comfortable position. This trait is very common with the Ashanti’s who are always there to support and enrich each other. Due to this special and generous attitude, we find many more rich people being Ashanti’s than any other tribe in Ghana. Another thing that makes more of them rich is the level of generosity. An Ashanti man can give out his asset or business to his family member or kinsman to manage and make more money whiles he concentrates on other businesses with the assurance that the business still goes on and they both benefit. They hardly let each other down. This is why they keep getting rich.
Big spenders – To catch a whale, you need to throw in a herring or smaller fish. This is a strategy that hardly fails and the Ashanti’s are by far the biggest users of this phenomenon. They spend big, invest big and almost always reap bountifully. The trick here is, the money hardly gets out of their own circles. During a festival, a group of rih Ashanti friends will go back home, book a hotel owned by an Ashanti, eat from a restaurant or ‘’chop bar’’ managed by an Ashanti and even drink at a bar owned by their kinsmen. At all these places, they spend heavily and patronize from their own people hence the money stays in their own circle.
The above mentioned points are not to say that other tribes in Ghana are not rich or do not practice any of these things. However, the group that stands out as those who do it more and better are the Ashanti’s. Maybe, in some time to come, this will change but until then, the children of Gold lead the way.
Source: Bennet Otoo, Jumia Travel
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Am an Ashanti, but the writer is wrong, the kwahu people are the most richest among the akan group.yes some ashantis are rich but compare their population to the kwahu n do ratio n proportion u will understand.
This is a good work. i am a Ga and trust me i have followed my mom on transfer to locations in Ghana and i can attest to the fact that the writer of this article has done a good work. All the points given is perfectly true. This should be a wake up call for us all. We should work hard, take risk, think big and start small, we should try and help our people to come up, then we can also become rich.
Nice article, very inspiring and all the factors presented here are 100% true. If you can't beat them, Join them. And we rule/run things, forget about 2020 @ KOJO, before Ghana even started Democracy and a multi-party system, Ashanti's had already forged an Empire/Kingdom. We have our hands on the live-button of Ghana....ask John Mahama! May God bless Ghana and May God bless the Ashanti Kingdom. May He continue to give Ashanti's/Akan's direction and guide us in all our ways. Amen! WE STAND TALL!
I love the only Kingdom in Ghana. If u think u r not in support mention ur own. In fact, Ashanti is a country. No wonder people from other tribes r given their daughters for us to marry dem. We r not lazy but hard working people. An Ewe womann is so happy to have me as her husband for 2 yrs now.
It's so sad and shameful that the few words you wrote it Twi are all wrong. Let's value our language and keep it.
Kojo Ndur you will be in your Ndur9 till thy kingdom come di*t ***barred word***. You wished you were born an Ashanti or Akyem you wouldn't be hateful and bitter but would enjoy from the Gold and Diamond your forebears left you. ***barred word*** like you,***barred word*** like you wo naan s3 taabo ***barred word***. No Fanti will hate like you ***barred word***, I think you lost you don't know where you belong,you just want to use the name Fanti to attract insults but you are a fo*l,you are not a Fanti,you are uncultured and unco*th something unlikely with Fantis. I believe you part of the Koku Anyidoho,Stan Dogbe,Fiifi Kwettey,Kofi Adams,Anita De Sosoo etc but Fanti you don't belong there not even any part of the central region. Central is not of only Fantis we have the Denkyiras,Assin who speak twi,the Agonas, Awutu and Senya,Afutu of Winneba who are Guans then the Gomoa so if you really a Fanti you should know you are a fraction in the central region so why do you insult the Fantis for voting for change and better living? Could the that fraction help the ndc to win? You are a fo*l and belong to the ***barred word*** kingdom. A real confused mind like your ndc leaders,one time you are kkk another time you are Black Panthers this time you are Kojo Ndur a fo*l and a jerk.
These are facts,stop the hating. Ashanti is a Country.
2020 will come soon.
I am a fante, the reason why this Asante Akyem CIA foo00000lish people can put this divisive article and a foo000lish Asante man FM station website and his Fo0000lish and tribalist F0000lish Peace Fm employees will publish it is because of my Fante people. If not my fante, NPP and it Asante Akyem foo00000lish people will never, come to power and spread their FO00000lishness like their FOO00000lish king who pretends to be a good man.
You see, the truth is, I will not waste time to read a topic like that, but I had rather taken time to read the comments. My "SIMPLE QUESTION IS" What is the POINT for such a topic?. Granted the Ashanti's are the richest, "And So what?". I am really struggling to know the import and the reason behind such a write up. Mr. Otoo, is anybody fighting you about which tribe is the richest in Ghana? I am a little bit confused. PEACEFMONLINE, I seriously think this is below the belt and I can wage a crusade for some of us not to comment or contribute to such a platform, to be frank, because not everybody in Ghana is an Ashanti. Diversity in Development is the key or else you can go ahead and formally make it an Ashanti platform, so that some of us will RESPECTABLY STAY AWAY, PLEASE!. I know you edit your topics before you post it. Do not start the plot that always put people off. Ashanti is not a country, the name of our country is call Ghana.