Ghanaian businessman Osei Kwame Despite has built one of the country’s most prominent privately owned media businesses after starting his career as a small trader selling music cassettes, padlocks and other household items.

Today, the 64-year-old entrepreneur has business interests spanning broadcasting, food processing, salt production and financial services, making him one of Ghana’s most recognisable business figures.

His journey, highlighted in a report by Billionaires.Africa, illustrates how a modest trading venture grew into a diversified portfolio of businesses operating across several sectors of Ghana’s economy.

Born on February 2, 1962, at Agona Wiamoase in the Ashanti Region, Despite began his trading career in Dunkwa in the Central Region, where he sold music cassettes, feeding bottles and padlocks to earn a living.

In the early 1980s, he travelled to Lagos, Nigeria, in search of better opportunities. However, his stay was cut short in 1983 when Nigeria expelled large numbers of undocumented West African migrants, including Ghanaians.

He returned to Ghana with a chainsaw and a cassette player and attempted to venture into the timber business. When the venture failed, he returned to selling music cassettes.

He later established Despite Stores, a music distribution business that supplied cassettes across Ghana and helped him build connections in the entertainment industry. The business name eventually became the name by which he is widely known.

From music trading to media

Despite’s major breakthrough came in 1999 when he established Peace FM in Accra. The station attracted a growing audience with its Akan-language programming, music, news and political discussions.

The success of Peace FM paved the way for expansion into other radio stations, including Okay FM, Neat FM and Hello FM in Kumasi.

He subsequently established Peacefmonline.com and expanded into television with the launch of United Television (UTV) in 2013.

These investments transformed his early music distribution business into a major media operation, giving him a significant presence in Ghana’s broadcasting and digital news industries.

Expanding beyond media

Beyond broadcasting, Despite diversified his business interests through a long-standing partnership with businessman Ernest Ofori Sarpong, founder of the Special Group of Companies.

Together, they have been associated with investments in businesses including U2 Salt and Best Point Savings and Loans, while UTV forms part of Despite’s wider media interests.

Despite also ventured into food processing through Neat Foods, which produces packaged Ghanaian food products, including Neat Fufu.

His investments across different sectors have helped broaden his business portfolio beyond radio and television, providing additional avenues for growth.

In June 2025, he expanded his portfolio of public-facing ventures with the opening of the Despite Automobile Museum at East Legon in Accra.

Commissioned by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the museum houses more than 60 classic and luxury vehicles, including a Bugatti Chiron and Rolls-Royce models.

The collection has further drawn public attention to his wealth and passion for luxury automobiles.

Wealth, family and philanthropy

Despite’s business success has generated considerable public interest in his wealth. However, the exact value of his fortune remains difficult to establish because his companies have not publicly disclosed consolidated financial accounts.

Meanwhile, the businessman has begun involving the next generation in managing his investments.

His eldest son, Kennedy Osei, serves as General Manager of Despite Media Group and is involved in other business activities, reflecting the family’s role in the continued development of the business empire.

Despite has also supported charitable causes, including donations to vulnerable people in his hometown and assistance to victims of the June 3, 2015, flood and fire disaster in Accra.

More than four decades after returning from Nigeria with limited resources, Despite has evolved from a small-scale trader into a businessman with interests across multiple industries.

With additional files from Billionaires.Africa

DR/MA