Business & Enterprise
Landmark
Herman Chinery-Hesse
1963 – 2024
Founded Ghana's first serious software company
Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Ghana Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
He came home in 1991 and started theSOFTtribe when almost nobody in West Africa was writing software as a business. They called him the Bill Gates of Africa, and he earned it.
Herman Eamon Owula Kojo Chinery-Hesse was born in Dublin in 1963 into a family long in Ghana's public service, and educated at Mfantsipim School, Westlake High School in Texas and Texas State University, where he took a degree in industrial technology.
He returned to Ghana and co-founded theSOFTtribe in 1991, one of West Africa's earliest software companies and later the oldest and largest in Ghana. He was widely known as the Bill Gates of Africa, and remained a leading voice for African-built technology until his death in 2024.
He returned to Ghana and co-founded theSOFTtribe in 1991, one of West Africa's earliest software companies and later the oldest and largest in Ghana. He was widely known as the Bill Gates of Africa, and remained a leading voice for African-built technology until his death in 2024.
- Wikipedia — Herman Chinery-Hesse
- The Africa Report — Why Chinery-Hesse is a pivotal figure in West Africa's tech sector
- Graphic Online — Herman Chinery-Hesse: Ghana's pioneer software entrepreneur
Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will check it.