Interview with Amar Deep Singh Hari , co-founder and CEO of IPMC
Our interview withAmar Deep Singh Hari, an Indian entrepreneur, who built a successful business in Ghana, is an effort to profile Diaspora, particularly Indians who have madeit big in Africa, a continentwhich is billed to bethe hottest business destination of the 21st century. Hari belongs to that category of businessmenwho sensed the importance of this region and its people much beforeothers did.His tryst with the people of foreign lands speaks of his uncanny sense of adventure and a vision to be of benefit to many. We bring to you Amar Deep Hari’s unique story of enterprise, social commitment and a zest to succeed in any adverse circumstances.Our special correspondent Joseph Vadaparampil interviewed Hari and the excerpts of the same are reproduced.
Being fearless is the indefatigable character and the overriding essence of Singh Hari. His arduous professional life spans over three decades and that too in various continents. In the late 1980’s, it was unimaginable deed for an 18-year boy who with an unwavering passion ventured out from the comforts of his home inIndia to the rugged and harsh terrains of a far-flung place. Perhaps a belief in himself and a mentor that was no other than his elder brother working in Liberia, a West African country, that brought out his inherent strengths and values enabling him to sail through the hurricanes his joint family faced in the later part of his life.
With the zeal to succeed, Hari ventured into Liberia. Alongwith his brother and his brother’s wife’s help, he first established himself in the entertainment space beginning with a small video library and later moving on to acquire a cinema hall along with fast food, discotheque and casino. It was perhaps too early to decide on a career path and best strategy seemed to be to engage in whatever came the way. Unfortunately,the lady luck did not give him a smile. During the Liberian civil war of the early 90s he and his family hadto leave everything behind and flee back to India to the safety of their hometown Chandigarh. Facing it bravely, the harrowing experience of becoming penniless after few years of hard work did not however shatter him. He spent the next two years in developing new skillswhich ranged from repairing of electronic gadgets to learning of software programming during the then nascent beginnings of the IT industry. He recollects that one thing which held him during the long span of unemployment and fear of uncertainty was the faith in Almighty which his mother had helped him to develop from early childhood.
It was this faith which actually brought him an early morning dream showing the map of West Africa and Ghana standing out in it. Thus in 1992 along with his elder brother he moved to Ghana and established an IT firm by the name IPMC.Although Ghana was one of the first globally to have the foresight of removing duty on the import of computers and declaring tax holidays for IT businesses, the acceptance of automation by enterprises there was yet far to come. Hari remembers walking from one door to another in an attempt to convince customers for buying the first PCs he had assembled personally himself. At the same time Hari developed the very first accounting software for Ghanaian businesses which was titled ‘Accounts Manager’ and remained a best seller for few years. Gradually on the course of making IT gadgets and software freely available in Ghana, along with IPMC’s initiative of growing IT skills amongst Ghanaians and people from neighbouring countries, IPMC turned itself into a household name in the West African region.Today IPMC stands to be one of Africa’s largest IT companies with expertise into Data centre consulting, business analytics, IT service management, and more, while IPMC’s College of technology continues to promote computer science engineering and developing IT skills under the STEM initiative. With over 2 million trained over the past three decades, the impact of creating a technologically skilled labour force in the West Africa region has come out in the form of digital economies which especially Ghana is fast becoming.
Ghana today is a role model for promoting literacy, specifically IT literacy and digitization in Africa. This underdog of World football is not only the leading Cocoa and Gold exporter but it has carved out its niche for technology leadership as well. The West African country has successfully created a unique citizenship identity, similar to that of India’s Aadhar card along withonline tax payment, e-commerce and various e-governance initiatives to improve the lives of its citizens. Ghana’s welcoming, English-speaking and peace loving population has turned their country into the most favourite business destination on the continent. With it’s excellent medical infrastructure it is also fast becoming the regions medical hub for malaria, cancer, trauma and other serious diseases. The excellent handling of the Covid situation by it’s government has already received laurels from world over.
Having made this beautiful country of Ghana as his home and business headquarters, Hari’s company became one of the first Africa based entity to expand itself in the Westwhen it established IPMC Smart Technologies in Canada for meeting the growing demand of modern automation tools by the businesses there. Meanwhile his mentor and elder brother Gurdip Hari has started the family’s maiden venture of a unique schooling model, by establishing Healthy Mind International in Accra, one of the first of its kind education institutes in Africa which imparts the new way of learning by developing the enquiry spirit, creativity and unique talents of each child.
Apart from venturing into other businesses such as real estate, hospitality and minerals trade, the Hari family has stood out at all times for being the most socially responsible in the community. Whether it is in the organizing of cultural events, adopting an orphanage or women empowerment initiatives in remote areas, or creating response mechanisms to epidemics such as Ebola or Covid or it is the fund raising for Cancer Genomics research in Canada, Hari and his entire family stays at the forefront of community service projects. Having grown on their father Sukhdev Singh Hari’s strong principals of service before self, both brothers Gurdip and Amardeep Hari continue to fulfil their humble role in the larger scheme of things for growing a better World for all. The recent adornment of the prestigious Millenium Excellence award by Ghana’s royalty His Royal Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Asantehene to Amardeep Singh Hari is a testimony to the impact his works has created. India feels proud of the contribution its diaspora is making in every corner of the World and wishes more of its citizens to replicate the same. Let each of us, as citizens of any country, be the real ambassadors of love, peace and friendship to all nations.
