Data and geospatial intelligence changing business decisions in Ghana – Henry Wame Nabafu

Businesses in Ghana are facing a tougher environment where rising costs, limited access to capital and growing competition are making it harder to rely on instinct alone when making important decisions.

Henry Wame Nabafu, Managing Director and Co-founder of Big Data Ghana Limited, says businesses now need to make greater use of data and geospatial intelligence to understand their operations, customers and risks before committing money to major decisions.

Speaking on the Citi Business Edition on 97.3 CitiFM, monitored by MyRoyalFM.com, Nabafu explained that the cost of making a wrong business decision has become much higher.

“So the issue here is that now the stakes are higher more than ever. Um money is hard to come by very difficult and then also things are expensive. So businesses are running at a higher cost than before,” he said.

His comments come at a time when businesses across different sectors are looking for ways to reduce waste, understand their customers and invest their limited resources more carefully.

Why instinct is no longer enough

For many years, business owners have relied heavily on experience and personal judgement when deciding where to invest, which customers to target or which location to choose.

Nabafu believes that approach is becoming less effective because businesses now generate huge amounts of information through their daily activities.

“So then it’s not a matter of deciding based on instance anymore >> and there is volumes and vast amount of data that each and every transaction is generating >> which used not to be the case,” he explained.

According to him, the challenge is not necessarily the absence of data. The bigger problem is that information is often scattered across different systems, departments and sources, making it difficult for businesses to see the bigger picture.

“With all these data sitting and scattered you know um we believe that bringing them together and drawing insight and intelligence out of it is very valuable to help businesses to to take smarter decisions to take decisions beyond what they can see because this data is bringing us things that they cannot see with the eye,” Nabafu said.

This is where data analysis becomes important. Instead of looking at one transaction, one customer or one location in isolation, businesses can combine different sources of information to identify patterns and risks that may not be obvious at first.

The cost of making a cheap decision

Nabafu also warned that a decision that appears cheaper in the short term can become much more expensive over time if it is made without enough information.

He said his experience working across different sectors over the past eight years has shown him how businesses can make decisions that look affordable initially but later create serious financial problems.

“For the past 8 years working and across various sectors I must say uh we have seen people take decisions businesses take decisions that on the surface looks uh um cheaper and affordable,” he said.

“However, in the future, it has caused them, you know, and the the the most expensive decisions that businesses have taken uh that has caused them is one that has been taken without the full picture, without having the full picture of what things are now and what things can be in the future.”

His point is particularly important for businesses making large investments. When millions of cedis are involved, saving a small amount at the beginning may not be a real saving if the decision creates larger costs later.

Data can help businesses ask better questions before committing resources.

For example, a company looking to open a new branch may consider rent, road access and the size of a building. But location data can provide much more information, including the movement of people, nearby businesses, population characteristics and potential risks associated with the area.

Geospatial intelligence and the importance of location

One of the areas Nabafu highlighted is the use of geospatial intelligence.

Geospatial intelligence uses information connected to specific locations to help organisations understand what is happening in a particular area. It can be useful when businesses are deciding where to build, where to expand, where to buy land or how to serve customers.

Nabafu said the approach cuts across several important areas of business, including land, human resources, markets and capital.

“So it cuts across all these four four key areas you know that businesses uh um trade in,” he said.

Land and property investment provide a clear example

Businesses may see a piece of land as a good investment because of its location, size or price. However, there may be risks that are not immediately visible.

Nabafu pointed to flooding as one example of what can happen when businesses do not have enough information before investing.

“When you talk about land you know you are asking uh uh we want to know it’s it’s expensive you know I don’t know whether you know the average land the cost of lands in in Ara the prime areas you know however um people are taking decisions um without the full picture of what is even beneath the land,” he said.

He then referred to a recent flooding incident as an example of the risks that investors can face.

“And a craft that floods I mean a few a couple of months back we see a craft flooded and if you if you are investing millions of Ghana cities into such a landed asset portfolio without having the full picture you know then of course we are saying that things can be done better than what what businesses are doing now,” he added.

The broader lesson is that location should not be judged only by what can be seen on the surface.

Before investing in property, a business may need to understand issues such as flood risk, drainage, road access, surrounding development and future changes that could affect the value or usefulness of the property.

Data can support decisions across the whole business

Nabafu said data is not only useful when a company is looking for a new location.

It can be applied across the entire business process, from acquiring a site to managing employees and reaching customers.

“So data cut across every from the site acquisition to the human resource that is running to even the business to the client or the market that you have to reach and then also in terms of capital,” he said.

This means data can influence decisions at different stages of a company’s operations.

A business planning expansion, for example, can use data to identify areas with strong demand before opening a new outlet. It can also study existing customers to understand what they buy, when they buy and where they are located.

Human resource decisions can also benefit from better information. Businesses can examine where employees are located, how easily they can access workplaces and what staffing needs exist in different locations.

For companies with branches or field workers, geospatial information can also help improve planning and reduce unnecessary travel and operating costs.

Agriculture and the problem of access to credit

Nabafu also highlighted agriculture as another sector where better data could make a major difference.

Access to finance remains an important challenge for farmers and agricultural businesses. Financial institutions need to understand the risks involved before providing loans, but limited information can make that assessment difficult.

“When you take for example the agric sector, you know, one of the key challenges in the agric sector is access to credit, you know,” he said.

Nabafu explained that the difficulty partly comes from the inability of financial institutions to properly assess the risks associated with some agricultural businesses and farmers.

“But and the reason is that businesses or financial institutions are not able to adequately place the risk that these businesses or these farmers they are posing,” he added.

Better data could help reduce some of this uncertainty.

For example, information about the location of farms, the size of farmland, historical production, weather patterns, road access and other factors could give lenders a clearer picture of the business they are considering financing.

That does not remove risk completely, but it can help financial institutions make decisions based on more information.

For farmers, better data could also help them demonstrate the strength of their operations and potentially improve their ability to access financial services.