Kwaku Bediako is the Founder and Group Executive Chairman of the CH Group of Companies. Predominantly, his companies comprise of Chase Petroleum, Goldkey, Blackwell Properties etc. Under his able management, the Group has grown into one of the biggest corporations in Ghana with several subsidiaries and major investments markedly across the Oil and Gas, Real Estate, Logistics, Water & Wastewater and Agribusiness sectors.
Kwaku Bediako as a young lad, had to deal with the turbulent divorce of his parents which gravely affected him. He was irrevocably passionate about doing business to the extent that he was willing to sacrifice his academics to prove a point to his father. As a child, Mr Bediako’s father preferred that he studied science courses, however young Kwaku differed in opinion. Therefore, while studying at Mfantsipim School, he purposely underperformed, receiving E and F grades in those subjects. Coupled with this, his poor choices of friends also grossly affected his academic performance and almost drove a wedge between him and his father. Ironically enough, his perceptive father introduced him to his line of business in the oil sector, which set Kwaku Bediako’s career as a business man in motion.
As an ardent entrepreneur and driven by his passion for identifying and developing cross-sector opportunities, he established Chase Petroleum Ghana Limited, a fast-growing Oil Trading and Bulk Distribution Company, in 1997. Through his entrepreneurial vision, the company was the first to be issued a Bulk Distributor’s License and under his leadership, Chase Petroleum is one of the recognized and leading oil companies in Ghana. With depots across Ghana in Tema, Kumasi, Buipe and Takoradi, Chase works in close partnership with storage providers such as Bulk Oil Storage and Transport (BOST), Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and the United Storage Company (USC). With his dead-set drive in contributing his quota to the development of the country, two years later he tapped into the real estate market and established Goldkey Properties, a development and management firm that specializes in building upscale residential and commercial properties in prime locations across Accra. With an eye for aesthetics, Mr. Bediako has residential villas, apartments and commercial grade A office developments covering over 200,000 sqm for sale and rent in prime locations including Airport Residential, Cantonments, Ridge, Labone, East Legon and Abelemkpe. Currently, Goldkey has successfully developed over twenty projects to date.
Also agriculture, touted as the backbone of the country’s economy struck a strategic chord with Mr. Bediako who proactively established Pinora Limited, a fruit processing company in Ghana, with a daily production capacity of over 400 metric tonnes. The production site provides blending hub services to the rest of West Africa and the region is gradually becoming one of the fastest growing juice consuming areas of the world.
Today, Mr. Bediako’s CH Group oversees various subsidiaries across Ghana including Chase Petroleum, Tema Tank Farm Ltd., Chase Logistics, Base Energy, West African Surface Solutions Ghana Ltd., GoldKey Properties, Denton Property Managers, Barton Homes, and Pinora Ltd. etc.
After over twenty-five years, Kwaku Bediako has successfully coalesced CH Group into a formidable entity in the country. In spite of his success which has served as fodder to the Ghanaian business landscape and with his instinctive, forward-thinking and hands-on approach, Mr. Bediako incessantly seeks to replicate the Group’s success across other industries.
Mr. Bediako’s experience in International Business endears him to lead the Group with the objective of ensuring the overall success of its diverse subsidiaries and growing of the Group’s portfolio.
For an individual inundated with countless ideas, his main challenge during the course of his business was the spoilt choice to focus on a specific industry. According to him, the success of his business meant lots of money for him which plunged him to make a decision between spending and investing, of which he chose the latter. He also admits it was challenging to earn the amount of money he made at such a young age. Mr. Bediako believes that a large part of his success is attributed to his drive to keep growing and that cheating in business has not settled well with him and as a result, he always looks at ‘the big picture’.
His immense understanding of business transcends to him being an active and passionate philanthropist. Kwaku Bediako actively supports various environmental, educational and other social responsibility projects through various foundations including the CH Foundation. To date, through various foundations and initiatives, he has improved the lives of thousands of people across multiple communities. The philanthropic arm of his business, the CH Group Foundation donated $100,000 to the Ghana Covid-19 Private Sector Fund. The donation was to help complete the construction of Ghana’s first infectious disease isolation and treatment facility and to fully equip it with 100 beds. Mr. Bediako’s charitable undertakings were also witnessed as he and his team decided to feed the needy during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, which according to him was very successful, having served 150,000 meals throughout the country.
