Five Years of HPW Côte d’Ivoire: From “Not Easy” to Rapid Growth and Still Not Done

“Looking back, I am very inspired and encouraged by what we have accomplished as a
company in half a decade,” he says and he credits the trust that made it possible: “I’m very
grateful to Hans Peter for his faith in young Africans and giving us the opportunity to carry
his vision with him.”

When asked what motivated HPW to start operations in Côte d’Ivoire five years ago, Michael
Mawusime’s answer is clear: value creation at source.

The logic behind that move is simple and practical: value creation at source leads to job
creation, job opportunities and ultimately prosperity. HPW was already buying raw materials from Côte d’Ivoire for processing in Ghana. Establishing operations at the source was about doing the value addition where it begins.

From day one, Michael Mawusime knew the expansion would be challenging.

“Coming into a new environment, we’re going to build a factory… And there was the
language barrier: I wasn’t speaking a word of French.”

But he also held two convictions at once: it wouldn’t be easy and it was possible. And, in his
words, it was necessary.

Michael Mawusime describes four major challenges in setting up operations:

● Communication: arriving from an English-speaking background without French.
● Administrative procedures: navigating what he calls a “daunting or demanding”
system and quickly learning how processes worked to keep the factory building
moving.
● Culture and pace: adjusting to an environment he experienced as more “taking it
easy,” while needing to “drive things” and “push things quickly.”
● Finding the right people: building the right team was one of the biggest hurdles.

Across these challenges, the most important learning became a people lesson: prepare and
develop talent ahead of expansion.
He emphasizes “grooming and developing people… for future expansion and development,”
because transitions move faster when teams are ready to carry the vision.

He returns to the same idea with a metaphor from a book he mentions, “the pineapple
patch”: a pineapple field looks organized and intentional because someone prepared the
land, planned it, and arranged it well unlike the wild shrubs next to it.

His point: results don’t happen by accident. They come from preparation, patience, and consistent effort.

“It also requires that you are patient with people,” he says. “You need to train them, coach
them, guide them through the process. This learning takes time.”

Building HPW culture in Côte d’Ivoire, Michael Mawusime explains, was driven by extensive
training focused on building knowledge and skills.

Another cornerstone: ongoing exchange with Ghana. Team members were sent to Ghana
to learn directly and see how HPW developed over the years not only hearing about it, but
experiencing it.

Over five years, he says this helped establish a culture centered on:

● quality
● continuous improvement
● food safety
● aspiring for more

When asked what he is most proud of, Michael Mawusime points first to the management
capacity built over time and how crucial it is to success or failure.

He also highlights production growth: from around 700 tonnes of dried fruits in the early
phase to a target of 1,000 tonnes this year.

But what he returns to repeatedly is people growth: employees who started as casual daily
workers and became shift leaders, supervisors, and managers. That internal development is,
for him, a defining milestone.

On whether there was a moment he felt fully established in Côte d’Ivoire, Michael Mawusime
is honest:

“I would not say we are yet established… we have to make our business sustainable, make
the necessary profit margins.”

Progress is real but sustainability and profitability are still active work.

Asked what achievement means the most to him personally, Michael Mawusime names job
creation and stability giving people livelihoods to support their families.

He also notes that, over the years, he has seen industries and factories around them close
down and that continuing to operate and grow in that context matters.

How does Michael Mawusime describe the spirit of the HPW team in Côte d’Ivoire today?

“A very motivated team,” he says, people who want to prove themselves, improve, and help
the company grow.

Looking ahead, his goals are focused and operational:

● expand and become more profitable
● increase margins
● buy more raw material
● maximize what they get out of the raw material (“valorization”)
● improve life for staff

He shares that expansion is already underway: work has started to double the factory’s
capacity, alongside introducing new technologies tied to raw material valorization.

Michael Mawusime sees opportunity in valorization but also major challenges in managing
cost pressures:

● operational costs
● raw material costs
● labor costs
● energy costs

His conclusion: the future demands smarter cost management and the ability to harness new technologies to stay profitable.

Michael Mawusime’s reflections are also rooted in gratitude. He says he is “very grateful” to
Hans Peter for his faith in young Africans and the opportunity to carry the vision forward. He
also expresses appreciation for the support received over the years from Mike, James and his team and colleagues in Ghana. Support he describes as part of what has made the last
five years both inspiring and encouraging.

Having been part of HPW’s story for more than two decades, Michael Mawusime is
motivated by what he has witnessed firsthand: starting with just a small team and seeing
what it has grown into.

He believes there is still much more possible and he’s driven by the lives touched through
employment and the impact of HPW’s products on international markets.

His message for the five-year milestone is straightforward: keep working and stay motivated
to find ways to improve costs so the company becomes more profitable, sustainable, and
future-ready.

Because for HPW Côte d’Ivoire, five years is not the finish line. It’s proof of what’s possible and a push into what comes next.