Mahesh Melwani of Melcom Group: “We Are Bringing Shopping to the Doorstep of Ghanaians”

Interview with Mahesh Melwani, Joint Group Managing Director at Melcom Group

What is the Ghana Club 100 and how long have you been a member? What does it mean to you?
 
The Ghana Club 100 was formed by the GIPC, which is the Ghana Investment Promotion Council. Every year, they rate the top 100 companies in Ghana. We first participated five or six years ago and have participated every year since. Last year, we were voted the 16th largest company in Ghana. It is quite a prestigious award to be given due to the fact that the GIPC advertise that these are the top companies in Ghana. It says that these are good companies and that they are reputable.

What would you identify as Melcom’s key point of difference compared to your competitors?

One of Melcom’s main differences compared to our competition is that we are located throughout the country, in all ten regions of Ghana. We currently have 38 stores. Another competitive point is that formalized retail is basically in Accra, and they are only now starting to move out to Kumasi. However, we have been in the formal retail trade since the beginning. Another difference is that our pricing is very competitive. Whether you are in Accra, Bolgatanga, or Tamale, our pricing is the same throughout Ghana. We advertise that fact and people appreciate that. We have always believed in bringing shopping to the doorstep of the average person.

One of Melcom’s main differences compared to our competition is that we are located throughout the country, in all ten regions of Ghana. We currently have 38 stores.

What is your personal vision for Melcom? What kind of legacy are you trying to build?

Currently, we have 38 stores. In the next six to eight months, we will add two more. Hopefully, by the end of 2019, we will have 50 stores, if not more. We want to be in all the townships and all the major towns where there is a decent population of at least 150,000 to 200,000 people. We are finding that people do not want to come all the way to Accra or the major cities to shop, so we want to go to them and make shopping easy for them.

What is your message about Ghana and its potential?

I have been in Ghana since 1989. There is a huge difference between what Ghana was then and what Ghana is now. It has grown in leaps and bounds. We have had gaps and dips in between, but that happens everywhere. In the long run, Ghana is a great place and it is going to continue to progress.

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