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Agnes Oforiwa Tagoe-Quarcoopome was a stellar businesswoman whose textile business grew from humble beginnings into a thriving enterprise.
But in a country then colonized by the British, one of her most crucial political connections would be with the leader of an independence movement named Kwame Nkrumah.
Being the first merchant woman to open a bank account and leverage it to expand her business to other opportunities, Oforiwa already had the respect of her marketplace peers.
Nkrumah’s vision for a self-sufficient and thriving nation was exactly the motivation behind Oforiwa’s own organized boycotts of European goods.
Soon, she wasn’t simply spreading the word about his liberation movement - she was financing it.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, her business portfolio expanded from textiles to real estate, positioning her to generously fund Nkrumah’s Convention People's Party and facilitate meetings on his behalf with organizations and trade unions of influence (including the Makola Women Association and Accra Market Women’s Association).
She used her money to help build a self-governing community. And her omission from history as one of the most important financial backers of Ghana’s independence movement is shameful.
Ghana might not have grown to be the thriving nation it is today were it not for Nkrumah’s bold leadership, aided significantly by the profits from Oforiwa’s strategic business and political relations - all for independence for her people.