Why McDan’s start-up loan to his son comes with a strict agreement

Ghanaian business magnate, Daniel McKorley, has attached a strict agreement to a loan he advanced to one of his children to start a business in cashew farming.

Mr McKorley, founder and CEO of the fast-expanding McDan Shipping Company, said on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Tuesday that he did not give the money to his son, Nii Atukwey McKorley, for free because it was important to instil financial discipline in him at the budding stage of his entrepreneurial journey.

“We live in a country where everybody wants something for free.  Immediately you begin to give things out for free, people don’t work hard. He [his son] has to work hard,” he said.

The loan agreement between Mr McKorley and his son is simple: Unless the loan amount is paid in full after the second harvest of the cashew farm, the farm will be seized by Mr McKorley.

Although the deal sounds harsh, Mr McKorley’s son is confident of delivering on the agreement.

Nineteen-year-old Nii Atukwey McKorley projects to make at least $800,000 in profits after the first harvest and over a million dollars after the second harvest.

Without disclosing the “confidential” amount loaned to him by his father, he said the proceeds from the cashew farm after the second harvest should be enough to pay back the loan.

Nii Atukwey McKorley believes Ghana needs more businessmen like his father if the country’s private sector, described as the engine of growth, would live up to that description.

“You inspire me a lot and I try every day as much as I can to learn from you because I know that if I listen to what you tell me, and if I do what I am supposed to do, I will be successful,” he told his father, setting the tone for touching father and son moment at the Joy FM studio.

Moved by his son’s open admiration for him on live radio, Mr McKorley said the comments were heartwarming.

“You are the first of the many kinds that I want to bring up. I am just giving you my shoulder and immediately I give you my shoulder you are taller than me and I want you to be more successful,” he told his son.

The evidence in what Mr McKorley said to his son – “you are the first of the many kinds I want to bring up” – can be found in his entrepreneurship competition, dubbed the McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Mr McKorley is investing over $100,000 to support young, enterprising people with bankable ideas to create jobs, deepen entrepreneurship culture and produce more successful entrepreneurs and millionaires in the country.

The second season of the McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge, a reality television show, opened last year where the ultimate winner walks away with funding and mentoring support of up to a $100,000.

Source: MyJoyOnline News