As a Ghanaian and a Bleeobi, I have nothing but respect, admiration, and appreciation for Asamoah Gyan for his generosity and civic responsibility to fund the Accra Academy Sports Centre (Shieeeeee, Astro Turf and things). To make lasting impact, however, his donation must outlive him. Will it?<\/p>\n
One Friday afternoon about three months ago, the security guard at a friend\u2019s office reminded me that \u201cit\u2019s Friday.\u201d I asked Twitter and Facebook if there was something special that Friday. The answer: noko fioo (something small). Other security guards and police officers have reminded me at various times that \u201cit\u2019s Saturday,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s Sunday,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s Sallah,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s Christmas,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s cold,\u201d \u201cit\u2019s hot.\u201d The best I\u2019ve heard is \u201ctoday be today.\u201d Well, since every day is a today, I\u2019m on a daily reminder.<\/p>\n
So they lie when they say Africans don\u2019t give to charity. I give to charity every \u201ctoday.\u201d You go to your village, you give. You go to a funeral on Saturday, you give. Church on Sunday, you really give. So we do have a giving culture; we just don\u2019t have an institutional giving culture. But we\u2019re developing it. And we should do it right.<\/p>\n
Soon after the ground was broken on the construction of the Astro Turf, I was on Accra Academy campus for unrelated business. I hadn\u2019t known about the project at that time, so I started asking questions, including about whether the school had the resources to maintain the facility.<\/p>\n
Think about it: After spending a reported $250,000 on this center, how will it be maintained? It costs money, you know. Let\u2019s say GH\u00a250,000 a year. Does Accra Academy have 50 grand to spend on\u2014let\u2019s be honest\u2014a football park while it\u2019s labs and libraries lack? I doubt it. Does Gyan have this money? Very likely. But will he always have this money, even when he\u2019s, hopefully, old and grey? I hope so. Will the money keep giving even after his inevitable death?<\/p>\n
If Accra Academy\u2019s administrators and Gyan\u2019s financial advisors haven\u2019t thought through these questions, then they\u2019re preparing to go the way of the Ghana government, you know, the Presidency (Have you seen the grass in front of Jubilee House?), of the Ministries buildings (Have you seen the missing louvres?), of the Metro Mass buses (Have you seen them lately?), of the Ayalolo buses (Have you seen them already?). If he doesn\u2019t finance the turf\u2019s maintenance, Jet is just spraying cash on the floor.<\/p>\n
But it need not be so. Imagine if he had donated another, say, GH\u00a2500,000 for maintenance in the form of an endowment. Even with a modest return of 15% per annum, that\u2019s GH\u00a275,000 in Year One. If you use 50,000 of that for maintenance, that leaves 525,000 to reinvest for the next year for a return of 78,500, which then leaves you with GH\u00a2553,500 principal to reinvest the next year and so on, year after year, in perpetuity. In effect, with professional investment and disciplined spending based on clear rules, the money will keep giving money and the centre will keep running forever. It\u2019s almost like sakawa.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the way the Rockefeller Foundations of the world do it and some reaches all of us. Starting with a reported $50 million endowment in 1913, the Foundation claims to have maintained the real value of the endowment, now some $4 billion, while giving away $17 billion over a century.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the way Harvards do it. You may have heard of the university\u2019s $37 billion endowment. That\u2019s $37 billion. One school. Simply put, this is money that has been donated to the school over time by various benefactors. This money is professionally invested by a corporation set up for this specific purpose and a portion of the proceeds distributed each year to help fund the school\u2019s operations. Even at 2% annual return, that\u2019s getting to a billion dollars to spend. When you factor in new donations, the Harvards and Stanfords may never have to worry about money.<\/p>\n
Accra Aca shouldn\u2019t have to worry about money for maintenance of the centre either, ever, even after this illustrious son is long gone. I read that the Minister for Youth and Sports charged the contractors to provide the school with a maintenance manual. I hope they put some money in the middle of the manual just like police officers like it. It\u2019s quite a burden to go back to Gyan to endow the centre too but it\u2019s in his interest too if he wants the centre and his gift to live on. Chances are, even if he doesn\u2019t endow it, the school will come running back to him in a few years anyway because \u201cthis is broken\u201d and \u201cthat has faded\u201d and \u201cthe rain did this\u201d and \u201cthe sun did that.\u201d Endowing the centre takes away such pressure.<\/p>\n
But Gyan doesn\u2019t have to shoulder the burden alone. I\u2019m confident other alumni would be happy to chip in their bit. In no time, our returns would be enough to equip more than a sports center. A lab, perhaps. Libraries. Scholarships. Dormitories. Etc. We may not catch up with Yale\u2019s $25 billion soon, but we sure can take care of our school and prepare our students to go to Yale.<\/p>\n
Once again, much respect to you, Braa Jet. You\u2019ve made your money honestly, and you\u2019ve spent it civically. I hope you live forever. Seriously.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Writer: @Kobina<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a Ghanaian and a Bleeobi, I have nothing but respect, admiration, and appreciation for Asamoah Gyan for his generosity and civic responsibility to fund the Accra Academy Sports Centre (Shieeeeee, Astro Turf and things). To make lasting impact, however, his donation must outlive him. Will it? One Friday afternoon about three months ago, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[374],"tags":[9536,3],"yoast_head":"\n