Interview with Kenneth Okine, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghanaian company Pamplo
Kenneth Okine holds a degree from the University of Leicester and spent several years working in the financial sector. In 2013 he founded the firm Pamplo, which makes products out of bamboo. In many cases, bamboo is an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic and can be cheaper than wood. The company, whose products include skewers, stirring sticks and toothpicks for hotels, wants to become Ghana’s market leader in bamboo products. Until now most products made from plastic, wood or bamboo have been imported, but Pamplo benefits from the increasing demand for alternatives to plastic and creates jobs in Ghana. In the interview, Kenneth Okine explains how he has made his company competitive with the support of Invest for Jobs.
1. What was the motivation behind founding Pamplo?
I founded Pamplo because I saw how plastic pollutes the environment in our country. We import plastic, which then becomes waste that pollutes our environment and ends up in the ocean. What good is that? I knew there had to be a better way. And there is a better way. With Pamplo. In Twi, our local language, ‘pamplo’ means bamboo. Bamboo is the best alternative to plastic. It’s one of the fastest-growing renewable resources in the world; it’s compostable and climate-neutral. But most importantly, bamboo products can be made locally and they create jobs here in Ghana.