Empowering entrepreneurs in emerging markets
to impact their local economy

Mr. Ampofo is the Chief Executive of the gold rich area of Tafo, Ghana. He instituted a moratorium on Gold Mining in his region due to stop illegal foreign mining. The root cause of this problem is the lack of funding for entrepreneur miners. Crowd Bootstrap proposed is financing solution to resolve this problem.

Mr. Ampofo has invited Crowd Bootstrap to pilot its unique funding raising program in his Region. The Crowd Bootstrap program promises access to the expertise and funding that local miners require to launch and operate their gold mines. These miners will also recycle a portion of their profits into local social impact projects.

David is the co-founder of Silf Mineral Resources Ltd. He lives in the gold rich area of Osiem, in Ghana. David has more than 20 years of experience as a gold miner. He led the effort to complete Silf's Full Feasibility Study and obtain all required permits, including from the Minerals Commission, EPA and Water Authority. David also led Silf's social responsibility negotiations with the local community. David is the majority share owner of Silf.

Crowd Bootstrap is an investor in Silf. In return, the Silf gold mine is the showcase gold mine in the Crowd Bootstrap portfolio. Other entrepreneur gold miners will be able to visit this Showcase gold mine to observe the latest best practices in gold mine operations, business management and financial controls. Crowd Bootstrap will use gold from this Showcase mine as collateral for its stable coins.

Curtis Amlado is a gold miner with 10 years of experience. He was trained by Ian David Freeland in Alluvial, Hard Rock and gold mineral processing. Ian is a Judge of Mines and the Director of Action Mining Services in Australia. Curtis is fluent in both English and Mandarin.

Curtis had to drop out of school in his final year at Mawuli Senior High due to family challenges including the loss of his father at a young age. He accepted minimum wage jobs with borehole drilling companies to enable him to save enough money to support himself and his family.

After years of hustling, he wrote and passed the WACE exams privately. Curtis then travelled to Hong Kong and China where he worked on a two-year contract as an oral English teacher at the Waihai and Shangdong university colleges with the New Gui English company. Curtis helped the New Gui English company with his innovative business concept of setting up a coffee shop he named ‘’The English Bar’.

In the coffee shop, Curtis was the manu because executive customers paid for hours of English communication lessons. This generated significant revenue for the New Gui English Company. After two years at the English bar, an executive customer from the English bar helped Curtis get professional training in security systems (CCTV and access control installation) and security intelligence in his company at ICEC International in the Futian district in Shenzhen. Eventually, Curtis joined ICEC International on a two-year contract as an international sales consultant. While working with ICEC International he had the opportunity to accompany his boss Mr Jack Hao Chen on business trips to Milan, Amsterdam, Madrid and Antwerp in Europe.

Curtis eventually returned to Ghana to set up a security systems, supply and installation service with a friend while he also had a borehole drill and construction company with his senior brother. Curtis eventually branched out on his own and moved to Takoradi in the Western of Ghana. He met some young entrepreneurs who asked him for the direction to Tarkwa Nsuaem, which is a popular mining town surrounded by gold mining villages. He decided to take a risk and join the young entrepreneurs in search of a future in the gold mining business.

Curtis started his gold mining career as a loko boy (labourer) then quickly earned promotions to a supervisor role and then became a manager. While working with different small-scale mining groups, he came into contact with Ian David Freeland while conducting research on gold mining on the Internet. Curtis quickly attained proficiency in Hard Rock, Alluvial gold mining and gold mineral processing under Ian’s tutelage both in person and over the internet. Ian took vacations to Ghana on three occasions to train Curtis on free gold recovery processing techniques using his company’s unique technology the AMS M8-10 gold wave tables.

Curtis then started a gold mining support service company after he recognized the huge business opportunities in that segment of the industry. This re-ignited his entrepreneurial fire.

In particular Curtis realized that local mining practices left residual gold in the tailing materials. He therefore launched Realized Miners Limited to recover residual gold from tailing materials as well as to provide Hard Rock and Alluvial gold mining services to concessionaires in Ghana. Eventually, he discovered a more efficient technique to sample tailing materials and to validate the gold content. Curtis also devised a simpler method to extract the residual gold from the tailing materials. Now he had a great business model but lacked the funding to make his business dream a reality.

His unique business model promised to yield a minimum of 8 kilos of gold per month worth US$300,000 with operational costs of about US$76,000. However, he needed US$250,000 to launch his business in a country where startup capital is non-existent. He also needed excavators and alluvial washing plants (tromils) to enable his company to provide alluvial mining support services to concessionaires under contract. This service is in high demand.

By chance, Curtis’ cousin Daniel heard about Crowd Bootstrap‘s program to help gold miners in Ghana. Daniel introduced Curtis to Crowd Bootstrap‘s Executive team who were really impressed with Curtis’ business model, hustle, knowledge and contacts in the industry. The Crowd Bootstrap team decided to welcome Realize Miners Limited into their program.

The two organizations will now collaborate to help Realize Miners Limited raise the startup funding they need to commence operations. Curtis expects his business to create a minimum of 25 jobs in the local community. Crowd Bootstrap has already arranged seed funding for Realize Miners which has given Curtis hope and the initial funds to conduct a pilot. Now he is closer to achieving his dream to operate a successful business. However, sometimes his thoughts return to his childhood. In particular, he thinks about his personal dream to give back to the community. Curtis hope his business will meet its funding needs and more so he can purchase a water borehole drilling rig that will provide clean drinking water to deprived communities in Ghana.

Nana Ahunbrasie is from Prestea in the Western region of Ghana. He has 6 Children. Two of them are still at university. He also has 23 years of experience in the gold mining industry.

Nana Ahunbrasie owns a large-scale gold mining concession, that has both Alluvial and Hard Rock gold deposits valued at more than US$4.5 Billion. However, he is resource rich and cash poor.

Due to his lack of funding, he has little negotiating power with local buyers of gold. He therefore sells his gold at a significant discount, which keeps him cash poor.

However, he now sees the light at the end of the tunnel. His hopes have been elevated by the opportunity presented by Crowd Bootstrap to transform his fortunes. Crowd Bootstrap will enable him to use his gold reserves as collateral for a loan or equity investment. He just needs independent verification of the value of the gold deposits in his concession.

To Nana Ahunbrasei, Crowd Bootstrap’s funding program represents generational empowerment, not only for him but also for all of the other cash constrained local entrepreneurs in Ghana’s private sector gold mining industry. On a local scale he sees this as an opportunity to move his family, and local community, beyond aid and assistance. However, he can also see how this concept has the potential to scale-up and help move his Region, Ghana and even Africa Beyond Aid.

Now Nana Ahunbrasie is very hopeful that monetizing his gold reserves will enable him to raise the funding he needs to enhance the efficiency of his large-scale gold mine. The correct equipment, logistics and best practices will empower him to increase productivity. In turn, this will enable him to increase his bargaining power which will increase his profitability. Increasing both volume and profitability will enable him and his workers to live a more comfortable life. In addition, it will enable him to recycle some of his new-found profits into social impact projects in his community. He hopes that Crowd Bootstrap’s program will help transform his resource rich community into one that is no longer cash poor.

Dillys Ahiabgenyo is a gold miner and mother of three handsome boys. She is from Juapong in the Volta Region but grew up in Kwaben, a gold mining community in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

Due to family needs, Dillys started alluvial gold mining at the age of 12. She had to accompany her parents who worked as day laborers at local mining sites.

Dillys chose to become a gold miner because it’s the most lucrative job in her community. But this profession is very challenging for men and is even more challenging for women. However, Dillys was determined not to quit and has now grown her business to support 25 workers, both men and women. Her mine gives her the opportunity to provide for her three boys until they complete their tertiary education.

Dillys has never stepped foot in a class room nor had any formal education. However, she has the practical “know how”, expertise and techniques to excel at alluvial gold mining because it has been her livelihood for years. She rents excavators to open gold bearing gravel pits. Then her laborers feed this gravel into a locally fabricated washing plant. Then her laborers use head pans to extract the gold. At the end of a hard day of mining, Dillys is able to produce about 20 pounds of gold worth approximately US$5,279. From this she has to cover a number of costs, including compensating farmers, excavator rental, fuel and labor.

Her biggest dream is to automate her mining operations to increase productivity and ensure she meets all mining regulations. To finance her dream, she has applied for bank loans and micro financing. But all of her applications have been rejected although she has all of the required experience and is running a profitable business.

However, Dillys has been given new hope. She heard about the Crowd Bootstrap program that helps gold miners raise funding against their gold reserves. She sees this as a new bridge to success for entrepreneurial gold miners in Ghana. Dillys is happy that Crowd Bootstrap will consider her project on its merits despite the fact that she is a woman without formal education in the male dominated gold mining industry. She is also excited about learning about new and improved mining techniques from Crowd Bootstrap’s Success Team.

Dillys now has the hope that she can raise startup capital of US$600,000 to increase production to 20 kilos of gold per month worth approximately US$760,000 with monthly operating costs of US$70,000. This will enable her to repay the investment within months. In addition, she will be able to impact her community with 20 jobs in her mine and deliver an improved system for drinking water.

Francis Addae is a small-scale gold miner in Ghana with 20 years of experience in gold mining. He is from Prestea, a popular gold mining town, in the Western Region of Ghana. He is married with two boys who are in senior high school.

Francis inherited his Large-scale gold mine from his late father. It is located in the Wassa Amenfi District which is also in the Western Region of Ghana. His concession has both Alluvial and Hard Rock gold deposits. Due to a lack of funding, he only operates his small-scale mine.

After Francis returned from Italy in 2004, he started a company, Sikaman Mining Company Limited, to manage his gold mining activities. He employs 22 apprentices. He is seeking funding to scale up his mining operation. This would enable him to create more jobs and give back to society, especially communities close to his gold mine.

Francis has signed a Letter of Intent with Crowd Bootstrap to seek the expertise and funding he needs to elevate his mining operations and gold production capacity to the level required to compete effectively in the gold business.

However, previously his only realistic option to become competitive was to give up 80% of the equity in his mine to a foreign multinational. Now, Crowd Bootstrap has given him new hope. He can achieve his dream of retaining full control over his gold mining business. This would make his father proud.

Francis, is now looking forward to a future where he can provide for his family and also recycle wealth into his local community, rather than exporting the majority of that wealth to the country of a foreign multinational.

Daniel Adjei Amlado Jr. is a computer/network engineer, media production director, technical engineer & web-developer/designer. He is fluent in both French and English. However, he attained his current job without completing junior high school. In fact, at the age of 14, he left Ghana to go to Togo-Lomé to learn computer engineering and French.

At the age of 18, he moved to the Ivory Coast-Abidjan. Eventually he got a job as a telephone-boy in a cabin centre near the port of Abidjan. This allowed him to pay for evening classes to study French. His French fluency enabled him to get a better job in the middle of Abidjan Treichville with Gina-Com Telecommunication Centre. This is where he developed his skills in networking and computer engineering.

Daniel Jr. worked for 5 years for Mega Tech and Gates System Technologies both based in Abidjan (Cote D’Ivoire). He worked in computer system hardware maintenance, office and home networking upgrades and system recovery. He attended College Saint – Jean Bosco Treichville, Abidjan Cote D’Ivoire, where he studied French/English/Computer Science for the Batiment de Projection et de Commandement (BPC) & Baccalaureat (BAC). He worked with a Telephone, Fix & Internet Agency (AVISO.CI) for two years. He then moved back to his homeland Ghana-Accra where he attended the National Institute of Information Technology (“NIIT”) Accra Ghana for an Honours Diploma in Network Engineering. He studied Computer Maintenance and Hardware. Now Daniel Jr. works with Studio502 Multimedia Production as a computer/network engineer where he has developed a passion for media directing and technical engineering.

Daniel Jr. loves his country. However, he is concerned that Ghana has a literacy rate of 75% but only 58% of females above the age of 15 can read and write. He is also concerned that Africa’s population remains poor despite the fact that Africa is rich in natural resources. He is proud that Africa currently has the world’s second fastest economic growth rate, is the world's fastest-growing region for foreign direct investment and possesses nearly 30% of the earth's remaining mineral resources. He sees promise and believes entrepreneurship can help deliver social good and other benefits that can uplift the economy.

In fact, one day Daniel Jr. received a call to design the website of Realize Miners Limited. The Board of Directors were so impressed with his work they decided to add him to the team. In addition, Crowd Bootstrap provided seed funding to start a pilot. Now his company has hope and they are much closer to achieving business success.

Daniel Jr. is also very excited about advancements in blockchain technology particularly the potential for asset-backed tokens to monetize Africa’s vast natural resources. This will enable entrepreneurs to fund their gold mining projects and recycle profits into social impact projects. In the future, Daniel Jr. would like to start a company comprised of block chain developers who will provide world class services to organizations in Ghana and overseas. This will help transform Ghana’s economy from one based on natural resources to one based on advanced technologies. Improving the economy and enhancing the capacity of the workforce would be one small step toward Africa Beyond Aid.

Daniel Jr’s plans for the future also include helping the under privileged who didn’t have the chance of basic education, school drop outs, youths without employment and helping to provide safe drinking water. He is grateful that he had the drive to overcome these obstacles himself. Now he has hope that he can achieve his dreams of doing social good and also attain the additional education he requires to become the computer expert and entrepreneur he has always dreamed of becoming.

Cyril is a qualified professional Accountant with over 15 years post qualification experience in Auditing, Financial and Management Accounting, Personal and Corporate Tax, Payroll Administration, Financial Management and Treasury functions. He holds an Executive MBA (strategic & project management) and a B.A (Hons) Economics, University of Ghana – Legon. He is a Board member of the Edikan Goldmine Trustee Limited and the treasurer for the fund management unit.

Cyril has accounting experience with a number of companies including ED & CO Capital Partners (A SEC Licensed Company), Perseus Mining Ghana Limited, Vim-Express Consult Limited, Abosso Goldfields Limited (Member Company of the Goldfields Group), Ernst & Young (Chartered Accountants) and Morrison & Associates (Chartered Accountants, Mgt. and Tax Consultants). His roles have included Finance Controller, Lead Consultant, and Finance and Audit Manager.

Cyril’s experience includes providing investment advisory and fund management services to individuals and organizations. He also provides financial input for his client’s business plans that they use to apply for debt and equity financing. Cyril’s expertise also covers managing cost reduction policies and ensuring strict adherence to budget guidelines in accordance with prevailing laws and regulations. He also has expertise in sourcing and placing idle funds to yield maximum returns for his clients.

Cyril’s activities include timely and accurate:

• Completion of financial statutory compliance obligations in accordance with IFRS,
• Compliance with tax obligations,
• Preparation of monthly management reports including commentary and variance analyses,
• Management of payments and short-term cash needs,
• Liaison with external auditors and tax advisers to ensure all deadlines are met,
• Preparation of management reports and budget forecasts, and
• Management of internal controls, policies and procedures.

Cyril’s activities also include governance and reporting to relevant stakeholders, which includes:

• Bank of Ghana Settlement and Production statement,
• Customs & Excise Monthly Returns,
• Minerals Commission/Inspectorate Division Monthly Returns on Gold Mining Companies,
• Annual Financial Statements in accordance with IFRS and to meet local reporting requirements,
• Annual Budgets and Operational Business plans, and
• Preparation of monthly and quarterly forecast to assist management decision making.

Thompson Felix Nii Aryee is a Mining and Exploration Geologist. He has more than 22 years experience in Prospecting, Feasibility drilling, Development Geology, Mining, Grade control, Ore reconciliation and Ore Modelling. He has led exploration prospects in Africa and the Middle East.

Thompson’s roles have included Chief Mine and Exploration Geologist for Maaden Gold and Base Metals Saudi Arabia, Superitendent/Project Manager for Perseus Mining Limited, Senior Mine Geologist for Perseus Mining Limited, Senior Geologist and Project Co-Ordinator for Gyata Exploration Limited, Manager for Geosource Ghana Limited, Grade Control Geologist for Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Consulting Geologist for Tominco Consultants and Project Geologist for Centenary Mining Ghana Ltd.

Thompson’s main activities have included geochemistry, gridding, Geophysical Surveys and Interpretation, Structural Logging, Mapping and Interpretations, Regional and District geological Mapping, Auger, Air Core, RC and DD drilling and logging, Mineral Target Generations, Project Supervision and Management, Job training and mentoring of Field Geologists, and Geotechnical Engineering and Management. His work experience has covered Gold, Silver, Aluminum, Copper and Multielements.

Theophilus is a mechanical engineer. He is an expert in the efficient use of heavy mining equipment, such as excavators. Theophilus has 12 years working experience in the auto mobile industry and 7 years in the mining industry. He has worked for Nissan Auto Parts Ltd, Group5 Structure Ingenuity, Total Ghana Ltd, Pergah Transport Ltd, and currently works for Mantrac Ghana Ltd Caterpillar Dealership Newmont Akyem Mine site. Theophilus holds multiple motor vehicle certifications in Engineering. He also holds certifications for heavy moving equipment, including multiple Caterpillar certifications.

Michael has 30 years of experience in Mining Engineering. He has a B.Sc. and Post Graduate Diploma in Mining Engineering.

As Acting General Manager, Michael has responsibility for overall mine management. In his previous roles his responsibilities included management and improvement of all aspects of open pit production functions in accordance with relevant regulations and industry best practices and also performance of all statutory functions as specified in the Minerals and Mining Act and all relevant legislations.

In other roles he was responsible for all mining operations including drilling/blasting operations, pit dewatering and load/haul and management of ROM pad and waste dumps.

Michael’s previous responsibilities also included overseeing the safe and efficient excavation and processing of alluvial deposits, overseeing the construction of the earthworks, i.e. dams, site preparation; supervising maintenance, processing and geology activities; managing rented earthmoving equipment and liaising with environmental consultants, regulatory agencies and subcontractors.

His responsibilities as a Mine Manager included managing the computerized truck weighing facility, supervising bauxite production operations including drilling and blasting, haulage, crushing, washing, as well as road and rail transport activities

As a Superintendent, his responsibilities included managing the maintenance of the earthmoving fleet including dozers, excavators, haul trucks, graders, loaders etc. His responsibilities also included overseeing all earthmoving functions, coordinating activities of the mining department with maintenance, processing, geology departments, preparing annual budgets, preparing monthly reports for the mining department, reviewing Monthly Monitoring Returns as well as Annual Environmental Reports for the Environmental Protection Agency and working closely with Environmental Consultants and Regulatory Agencies.

As a Production Supervisor and Field Mining Engineer, Michael oversaw safe and efficient excavation of ore to the washplant, safe and efficient operation of the washplant, construction of earthworks (dams, site preparation etc), safe and efficient sampling and evaluation of the alluvial deposits and collection of data for environmental baseline and impact assessment reports.

Michael has held a number of roles including Acting General Manager, Mine Manager, Mine Operations Superintendent, Senior Operations Supervisor, Mine Engineer, Project Engineer, Production Superintendent, Production Supervisor and Field Mining Engineer.

He has worked for a number of companies including Golden Star Wassa Ltd., Xtra-Gold Mining Limited, Alcan-Ghana Bauxite Co Ltd, Golden Rae Mining Company, Bonte Gold Mines Ltc. and Canadiana Gold Resources.

As a Senior Environmental Officer, Eric is responsible for planning and implementing land reclamation activities that are a necessary counter-measure to mining operations and other causes of land disturbance. Eric is also responsible for liaising with ecological and sediment consultants. He collaborates closely with Reclamation Specialists for both soil and vegetation, with contractors, and with mining operation engineers as well as with other personnel involved in reclamation activities. Eric also supports other environmental team members on reclamation issues related to fish and wildlife habitat, water quality, visual resource management and general environmental matters.

Eric is also responsible for liaising with the community and Social Department to resolve community concerns related to pollution control. He also liaises with any required regulatory, industry and multi-stakeholder groups. This includes ensuring compliance with regulatory reporting requirements related to conservation and reclamation.

Eric oversees and implements reclamation and environmental monitoring and research programs. He trains rehabilitation crews on best practices, procedures, techniques and new technology. He oversees environmental consultants and contractors while they conduct reclamation and monitoring work. Eric’s responsibilities also include overseeing the production of seedlings and management of the environmental nursery to support rehabilitation programs.

While overseeing the implementation of mine reclamation and re-vegetation programs, Eric ensures objectives are met for equivalent land capability. This includes stripping, storage, management and placement of top soils.

Mr Obiri-Yeboah Tsumasi is a Mining Engineer by Profession with a Bachelor and a Post Graduate (Prof) Diploma in Mining Engineering respectively obtained in 1985 – 1986 at University of Science and Technology School of Mines (USTSM) Tarkwa now University of Mines and Technology (UMaT).

He had previously worked as Assistant Quarry Manager at KAS Stone Quarry in Kuhua – Buoho near Kumasi from January – August 1987.

He Joined the Mines Department in October 1987 and worked in the entire four jurisdictions rising through the ranks till June 2014 when he was appointed as the Chief Inspector of Mines with the Minerals Commission in Ghana till date.

Mr Obiri- Yeboah Tsumasi had several stints in the Mining Industry in Ghana with Mining Companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, Obuasi –Mine, and some of the then Gold Mines of the erstwhile state Gold Mining Corporation of Ghana, the likes of Prestea Gold Fields, Dunkwa Gold Mine (Dredge) and the Konongo Gold Mine. Besides all the above, he has also under taken several study tours to the Zambia Copper Belt, Ontario Province in Canada, Zimbabwe Small Scale Mines, Australia and the following European Countries such as Sweden, Germany, Former Yugoslavia, Netherlands and Poland.

His latest study tour was in South Africa under the auspices of AEL Mining Services.

Michael Holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Water Resource Engineering and Management, a Masters and undergraduate degree in Mining Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a certificate in Management from University of Stellenbosch. He has 26 years of experience in the mining and mineral industry. His expertise includes mining operations and management, mineral evaluation, mineral exploration, environmental engineering and management, occupational health and safety, sustainable development, social and community management and Environmental and social impact assessment.

He has worked for a number of companies including Canadian Mineral Exploration Inc., Golden Star Resources, Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Perseus Mining Ghana, Owere Mines Limited, Foso Stone Quarry and Mining Services Limited. His roles have included General Manager, Environmental Manager, Mining Manager, Health and Safety Manager, Sustainable Development Manager, Project Manager Explorations, Social and Community Manager and Project Management.

Michael has worked in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Canada and Western Australia. His experience includes a number of minerals including gold, diamonds, titanium, iron, manganese, bauxite and limestone.

Lawrence is an accomplished Metallurgical Engineer with 30 years working experience in the gold mining industry in Ghana. He has held the highest leadership and management positions for projects that explore the many industrial uses of metals. His specialties are extractive metallurgy, separating metals from ores, and refining extractions into a purer form. He is an expert in gold metallurgical plant operations from Crushing, through all forms of milling, CIL / CIP Adsorption, high and low pressure stripping and electrowinning, Meryl-Crowe Precipitation, to smelting.

His skills include calculating basic metallurgical operations parameters, chemical metallurgy performance, transformation of project work from laboratory stage for modifications on the processing plant for higher performance and improvement to increase production and a commitment to Health, Safety and Environmental requirements in a regulatory framework for compliance.

Lawrence roles have included member of the Board of Directors for Fiaseman Rural Bank Limited, Bogoso, W/R; General Manager for Prestea Sankofa Gold Ltd, Prestea, W/R, Ghana; Board Member for Prestea Secondary Technical School, Prestea, W/R, Ghana; Processing Plant Manager for tea Sankofa Gold Ltd, Prestea, W/R, Ghana; Snr. Plant Metallurgist for Bogoso Gold Ltd, Bogoso, W/R, Ghana; and Processing Plant Shift Supervisor for Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, Obuasi, A/R, Ghana.

His responsibilities include manage and coordinate operations, maintenance, quality control and engineering to achieve required tonnage and product grade specifications; operate the Mine safely and cost effectively, in accordance with agreed operating plans and in line with applicable regulations and industry best practice including international EHS Guidelines and Performance Standards; prepare budget reports periodically against agreed plans – adopt a “no surprises” approach to reporting and leadership; drive a culture of cost efficiency and continuous improvement in all areas of the operation; maintain compliance with corporate values, Code of Conduct, corporate sustainability policies and EHS Guidelines and Performance Standards; implement the company’s Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability management plans and promote a culture of awareness and commitment to safe working practices amongst all employees, which will enable a healthy and accident-free working environment; engage with all stakeholders including Government, suppliers, communities and civil society organizations to enhance the company’s reputation and manage any risk; builds company image by collaborating with customers, government, community organizations, and employees and also enforcing ethical business practices; maintains quality service by establishing and enforcing organization standards and ensures compliance with all regulatory and statutory regulations.

Currently the commanding officer of James Camp Prison, Patience Baffoe-Bonnie is a Lawyer, a Social worker, Human rights advocate and above all a professional Corrections Officer with 31 years working experience, locally and internationally. She is a product of Tema Secondary and Winneba Secondary Schools, as well as the University of Ghana and the Ghana School of Law.

As a woman of many sides, she is engaged in a wide spectrum of activities targeted at Changing Lives and Creating Meaningful Livelihoods for the less privileged.

As the immediate past Chairperson of the Prisons Ladies Football Association, she led the Prisons Ladies football team to win its first gold medal after emerging as the 2017 FA Women Championship Cup winner.

She is an active member of Women and Children’s Right Committee of the Ghana Bar Association.

On the international front, she is a roistered member of the African Union Women Elections’ Observer Team.

She has facilitated courses in Rule of Law at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and other workshops for the public and women generally. She has also served as mentor/advisor and planner for United Nations Mission in Liberia and commanded the second topmost Security Prison in Liberia.

Currently, she is the Deputy Greater Accra Regional Commander and Vice President of Greater Accra Prison Ladies Association (PRILAS).

Until her current appointment, she was the Chief Legal Officer of Ghana Prisons Service in which capacity she facilitated the critical review of laws and policies regulating the Service. She also served on the many committees tasked to review laws relating to justice administration generally, including the sentencing guidelines, juvenile justice, women behind bars and community services among others.

She recently embarked on a project aimed at encouraging the general public to support projects in prisons for a collaborative public safety which she believes should be everyone’s concern.

She believes everyone is a potential change agent.

Angelina is a Human Resource Management Practitioner with over ten years working experience in both the public and private sectors. She has hands-on experience in project development and management. Angelina is currently a Programme Administrator at the Programme Management Unit, Office of the Attorney- General and Ministry of Justice. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer.

Mark provided the expertise & seed funding to accelerate Silf to the Mining Lease stage. He also developed Silf's business model & negotiated its US$72MM purchase order. Mark was the 2nd employee of Teledesic who raised $1 Billion. He also ran a $10 Million Harris Corp. acquisition before merging it into the parent. Mark also managed the development of a B2B portal for Toyota that grew to $1 Billion in transactions within 12 months of its launch.

David is the co-founder of Silf Mineral Resources Ltd. He lives in the gold rich area of Osiem, in Ghana. David has more than 20 years of experience as a gold miner. He led the effort to complete Silf's Full Feasibility Study and obtain all required permits, including from the Minerals Commission, EPA and Water Authority. David also led Silf's social responsibility negotiations with the local community. David is the majority share owner of Silf.

Joseph is a research scientist and holds a PhD from the University of Greenwich, U.K. He also holds an M.Phil Degree from the University of Ghana. Joseph has been involved in small-scale mining as a miner and investor for more than 18 years..

Under former President Mahama, Ambassador Victor Emmanuel Smith served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with concurrent accreditation to the Republic of Ireland. Previously, Ambassador Smith was the Regional Minister for the Eastern Region where he was instrumental in tackling the issue of illegal mining in Ghana. Ambassador Smith previously served as the Ambassador to the Czech Republic, spokesperson for former President Rawlings, and special assistant to the First Lady.

Cyril is a qualified professional Accountant with over 15 years post qualification experience in Auditing, Financial and Management Accounting, Personal and Corporate Tax, Payroll Administration, Financial Management and Treasury functions. He holds an Executive MBA (strategic & project management) and a B.A (Hons) Economics, University of Ghana – Legon. He is a Board member of the Edikan Goldmine Trustee Limited and the treasurer for the fund management unit.

Early is a blockchain enthusiast for the social good. He is a Director at Andra Capital, a tokenized technology growth fund, focused on late-stage investments, that has raised $500 Million in a $1 Billion Token sale. Early is also the Managing Partner of Certified Crypto who assists high quality companies, and funds, complete their raise from pre-sale through STO. Early was the first advisor to Crowd Bootstrap and its portfolio companies including Silf.

Jonathan leads Accenture’s Economic Modelling & Data Science Team in London. He previously led financial & commodity market research and analysis at the University of Cambridge (Fellow of Emmanuel College), led the money and credit team at the Bank of England and developed trading strategies for Winton Capital’s hedge fund & Lloyds Banking Group. Jonathan is a Director of Afrinomica, a think-tank that leverages data science to optimize business decision making in Africa.

Keith is the Managing Partner of AEGEUS, a Risk and Regulatory Advisory practice for Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and FinTech, using ML and AI to optimize business value. He presented at the Blockchain Fest Boston & Blockchain Leadership Connect Consensus events in New York and Chicago in 2018. He was also a judge at the Global Blockchain Hackathons in New York & Chicago. Keith hosted a 90 min Blockchain and AI workshop at The World Bank for 12 top banks.

In 2013, Byron became an early adopter of Bitcoin/Blockchain. Now he is an evangelist, teacher & tutor. Byron developed an innovative system that secures wallet seeds. He has also gained extensive sales, marketing & business development experience with multiple Fortune 500 enterprises. However, the film industry ignited his passion for story-telling where he wrote, produced & directed an award-winning feature film & also had a film selected for the Sundance Film Festival.

Ian has been the Managing Director for a number of mining organizations including MNI Mining PL, RTI Mining PL and Aussie Action Mining Services PL in Australia. At heart, Ian is a mining engineer with a professional mining career spanning more that 40 years. He has worked in the private and public sectors in Australia and overseas. Ian has wide experience in operating surface and underground gold and metalliferous mines and hard rock quarries.

Listening to entrepreneur gold miners in Ghana to understand their challenges and needs. Explaining new possibilities created by the blockchain, to address their funding needs. Reaching a common understanding of problems, solutions and how to achieve “Product Market Fit”. A win-win partnership between these entrepreneur miners, and Crowd Bootstrap, enables these entrepreneur miners to monetize their vast natural resources and retain the majority of the profits.

We will then encourage these entrepreneur gold miners to partner with local business experts to redeploy a portion of their new-found wealth as venture capital. This will enable them to fund Ghana’s future cadre of entrepreneurs whose thoughts, dreams and aspirations are unencumbered by historical limitations.

This next generation of entrepreneurs will strive to create innovative world class companies that will provide local solutions to local problems. They will provide solutions that range from meeting basic needs in more efficient ways to inventing and advancing cutting-edge technologies. This is a new economic order where current entrepreneurs fund future entrepreneurs to help transition Ghana’s economy from a follower in everything to a leader where she has competitive advantages.

Explaining the Crowd Bootstrap program to entrepreneur miners in Ghana. They traveled from around the country to Accra to hear about Crowd Bootstrap’s new financing option for their mining operations. Most are currently seeking a partnership with a foreign multinational where that multinational would get an 80% stake in their gold mining company. Instead, they committed to the Crowd Bootstrap program, by signing a Letter of Intent, for Crowd Bootstrap to help raise their startup funding by tokenizing their gold reserves. This approach enables them to retain ownership of their mines and the majority of the profits. They also have the pride of operating their own mines, creating great jobs and funding other profitable opportunities in their communities.

A photo opportunity with trail blazing entrepreneur gold miners who want to disrupt the mining industry in Ghana. By participating in the Crowd Bootstrap program, they will retain ownership in their mines and accrue a much larger portion of the profits. They have committed to reinvest at least 5% of their profits into social impact projects in their community. We prefer social impact projects that ignite a renewable form of wealth generation, such as entrepreneurship, education, training, eco-farming, eco-tourism, eco-mining and renewable energy. This will help transition the growth engine of Ghana’s economy from undercapitalized and depletable natural resources to renewable sources of wealth generation.

Crowd Bootstrap has provided seed funding for local miners. This has empowered local miners to start executing their plan to recover gold from their mines and tailing materials. After a mining company extracts gold from the ore, the resultant tailing material still has residual trace concentrations of gold. Local miners has developed techniques to identify the concentration levels of gold in tailing materials and also developed new techniques to extract that gold.

After a hard week of work, you have to replenish your soul and your mind. No better place to do this than on one of the beautiful beaches in Accra. People in Ghana are the friendliest most inviting and accommodating people in the world. Come to Ghana. We need you to contribute to our movement, which is now your movement, to help move Africa Beyond Aid. If you have expertise, funds to deploy or just want to provide moral support then we welcome your good attitude, patience and optimism. Contact info@CrowdBootstrap.com to find out how you can help us move one step closer to Africa Beyond Aid.