Welding a Future: A Business Built on Skills in Ghana
Training youth, creating jobs, and shaping steel: Stephen Orlando Mensah’s business Metal Engineering Services in Ghana is growing – thanks to the Original WIDU Grant. Stephen Orlando Mensah had the skills, the passion, and the vision. What he lacked was access to the right tools and a space to grow.
As a certified welding and fabrication officer, trained at Don Bosco Technical Institute and later at the Gratis Foundation, he knew how to work with metal. For years, he operated his small welding business quite literally “under the tree” – outdoors, without a proper workshop, and without modern equipment. With the help of his family, Stephen managed to start building a proper space for his work. However, some barriers remained. In Ghana’s Western North Region, where access to finance is limited and most banks require collateral or charge high interest rates, Stephen couldn’t secure the funding he needed to expand. That’s where WIDU came in. Through the Original WIDU Grant, Stephen was able to invest in professional equipment for his business.
Modern Tools, New Opportunities – And Jobs For The Future
Today, with the help of WIDU and his diaspora donor Kingsley, Stephen’s new workspace looks nothing like the place he started from. Thanks to the total investment of 5,000 Euros, a concreted floor now supports modern welding and fabrication equipment. With these tools, he can take on bigger contracts and deliver more professional results – from burglar-proof systems to agricultural machinery and food processors.
“The inception of the grant has helped us acquire modern working tools to enhance our service delivery. We started making returns right from the acquisition of our tools,” Stephen says.
But Metal Engineering Services is not just about serving clients. Stephen’s goal is also to train young people interested in welding and fabrication. This isn’t just a vision: the business has already created four new jobs, with more to come as operations grow. .
Expanding Vision: From Local Workshop to Learning Hub
The vision for Metal Engineering Services doesn’t stop here. With increasing demand from the surrounding area – especially from clients who would otherwise have to source providers in distant cities like Kumasi or Takoradi – Stephen hopes to establish the business as the leading metal workshop and training center in the Western North Region.
And it’s not just a personal win. The growth of Metal Engineering Services contributes to local economic development, vocational training, and job creation – exactly the kind of impact WIDU aims to support through its approach of combining diaspora funding with structured business coaching and grants.
For Stephen Orlando Mensah this is only the beginning. But it’s a strong one – rooted in community, driven by skill, and made possible through partnership.
