Billionaire businessman
and owner of Springfield Energy, Kevin Okyere has opened up about his life in
an interview about his humble beginnings including selling ice-water during
Kotoko games in Kumasi.
In recent times, rich millionaires have been
accused of making up stories about their beginnings in what many Ghanaians
believe are lies to cover up the real roots of their wealth.
There have been previous reports on how Kevin
grew up with his 27 siblings, his father’s wealth, what it meant for him and
later how he founded Springfield Energy which has struck one of the largest oil
deposits in Africa worth more than tens of billions of dollars.
But it has not been all rosy for the oil tycoon.
According to Kevin Okyere, although he was born
a ” ‘chip off the old block’, I didn’t the take the opportunities that
came to me for granted”…“I organized my friends and we sold water at Kotoko
matches in Kumasi to gain entry and also worked as a student to pay my way
through school.”
He credited his mother for his success because
she had always encouraged him to build his own wealth as “there is a great deal
of difference between “this is ours” and “this is mine”, he
made this known in an interview with TV3’s Paa Kwasi Asare.
Kevin Okyere revealed for the first time that,
contrary to popular rumours that he was an only child of a wealthy father, he
actually has 27 other siblings 3 or 4 of whom are late.
He disclosed that after secondary school, he
attended George Masons University in Virginia, in the United States.
Explaining how the name “Springfield” came
about, Kevin Okyere said: “I went to school in George Masons University in
Virginia and it (Springfield) is an area…I know. But the name Springfield
actually comes from, you know, when things are springing up. When opportunities
are gushing…ideas are gushing out. When Blessings are gushing out…oil and
gas are gushing…When plants, I mean on the farm are gushing out,” he
explained while making eruption gestures with his hands.
