Dr Ashifi Gogo
The White House in the United States of America (USA) has honoured a Ghanaian entrepreneur, Dr Ashifi Gogo, as one of the 11 Immigrant Innovators at its “Champions of Change” awards ceremony held recently.
Dr Gogo, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Sproxil Worldwide, has been operating in the USA as a technology entrepreneur, having established the company in 2008.
Sproxil, a global leader of sms-based mobile product authentication (MPA) and intelligent brand protection, now operates in five countries, including Ghana.
The Chief Technology Officer of the United States Government, Mr Todd Park, said at the event that the government was proud to honour immigrants, given their immense contribution to the development of the country’s economy.
“We are proud to recognise these leaders who work everyday to grow our economy, advance science and technology, and support their home communities,” Mr Park added.
The Champions of Change programme was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature groups of Americans – individuals, businesses and organisations – who are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.
The laurel is one of many recent honours received by Dr Gogo and his team at Sproxil Worldwide.
On why he was singled out by the White House, Dr Gogo said “our work in emerging markets is transformational – using cellphones consumers already have in their pockets to reinstate information symmetry during purchases so that consumers don’t get duped into buying fake products.”
“It’s an empowering solution that has gained a lot of attraction and a humbling degree of social impact in a growing number of countries, he added.
Sproxil’s MPA solution also received worldwide acclaim earlier this year when it received the Patents for Humanity Award issued by the US Department of Trade.
Fast Company Magazine also ranked Sproxil as the Seventh Most Innovative Company in the World, ahead of Apple, Google, Pinterest and Safari, some of the established tech companies. The company’s innovative MPA solution has proven to be a key success factor in the global fight against drug counterfeiting.
The Country Manager of Sproxil Ghana, Mr Osei K. Agyeman-Buahin, explained that the MPA solution combats counterfeits by providing consumers a way to verify that the product they buy is genuine, through the use of a mobile phone and simple text message.
“At point-of-purchase, users scratch a panel on the product to reveal a onetime-use code and text (SMS) the code to a mobile short code number. Within moments, a response is dispatched from our cloud-based system indicating the genuineness or otherwise of the item being authenticated. The user also gets a description of the product and a health tip,” he said.
Mr Agyeman-Buahin added that the benefits of Sproxil’s MPA would be felt all over Ghana within the next quarter as the company launched brand protection activity for two major global brands.
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