Ghana boasts a budding real estate industry that has the potential of being a key contributor to the nation’s gross domestic product. Unfortunately the unprofessionalism and unsavoury practices of some real estate agents has put a bad taste in the mouths of many property seekers and cast a negative light on the whole lot. In a bid to help solve the problem, meQasa as part of their #meQasaAt3 anniversary, planned a training day for 100 real estate agents in Accra, with the goal of teaching best industry practices to equip them with the requisite skills to flourish in business and ensure a better experience for seekers.

“We have an issue in this country. Real estate is big business around the world and in Ghana, there are thousands of estate agents who aim to be better at what they do, but provision is not made for national licensing. We’re just a startup, but we are a solutions-oriented and Ghanaian-founded company, so we look to do our part,” says meQasa CEO Kelvin Nyame, of why the business found it necessary to have a training event. The premiere seminar hosted on 27th October, 2016 was themed “Mastering the Fundamentals to Success in Real Estate Business”, and featured expert professionals in pertinent topic areas serving as the trainers, including Elias Hage (owner of the Chop Bar chain of restaurants) who presented on Converting Leads in Sales, Stephen Boadi (Digital Marketing Head of PZ Cussons Africa) who enlightened attendees on Becoming an Online Marketing Guru and Dominic Owusu-Agyeman of Standard Chartered Bank who advised event participants on Best Bookkeeping Practices & Personal Finance Management. Lively Q&A sessions followed each training module, allowing trainees to ask questions of the speakers. The event also contained an open floor discussion among all of the real estate agents – a time to reflect on their learnings from the day’s training segments and also to share concerns and ideas on how they can collaborate for collective success.

In attendance of meQasa’s first real estate agents seminar, held at the National Banking College, was Surveyor Meister Afriyie, a representative from the Ghana Institute of Surveyors. Meister Afriyie gave an address concerning the current state of real estate in Ghana and offered a brief review on the real estate bill, currently in assessment by the government.

The sit-down part of the event concluded with awarding of participation certificates to each attending estate agent. Program participants were then treated to lunch where they also had the chance to chit-chat with each other, exchange business cards and network with meQasa staff and the speakers.

“I found this training to be incredibly insightful and a day well-spent. I’m leaving with new vigour and great new strategies to apply, as well as having been able to connect with a lot of fellow real estate professionals,” exclaims Desmond Kafui, who attended with another colleague from Polen Properties. “We’re very pleased by the turnout and positive feedback from various training guests. This is only a start for meQasa when it comes to assembling industry players in-person, presenting opportunities to learn. We offer a lot of professional guidance via our blog, DREAM HOMES e-newsletter and social media platforms but it’s great to meet in person and utilise adept resource persons,” meQasa co-founder Rashad Seini, chimes in.

Photos from the event can be viewed here and property enthusiasts can subscribe to meQasa’s Youtube channel to be the first to catch video snippets from the training event.

Launched in 2013, meQasa.com is Ghana’s easiest way to rent, buy and sell property, offering a user-friendly online marketplace mutually beneficial to homeowners/landlords, home seekers, real estate agents and developers alike. The platform currently features over 23,000 residential and commercial properties for rent and sale across Ghana.