18 May Giving New Meaning to the Concept of REST

AVI fellow Robert Boateng–Duah is the founder of REST (Robotics Engineering Science & Technology) Solutions, which offers skills training, entrepreneurship and basic literacy to women in rural communities.

Many industries in Africa lack technology that will allow them to collect data in real-time to enable them to make data-driven business solutions. They also lack technology that will allow them to remotely control critical industrial/engineering processes. REST Solutions comes in by providing these technologies, allowing businesses to streamline data collection and analysis and save cost, time and resources. 

In essence, Robert set out to “solve the huge technology deficit in Africa.”:

“Our vision is that great change will come to Africa when Africans come to the point where they can develop their own homegrown technologies to solve their problems.” 

Robert stated the following:

“My biggest challenge so far has been logistical. Many of the tools and equipment I need for development cannot easily be sourced from the country. And the support infrastructure needed for research is not so robust in Ghana. 

Nevertheless, my mentor has made an impact on me and has been very resourceful. From the little things like recommending books for me to read to life advice, to offering support in times then I was down, to sharing fresh ideas with me. My mentor has been very helpful and impactful.

We both have a passion to create change and impact, and this commonality helps us gel together in a way that our differences are also able to complement each other.”

Robert’s “inspirational” mentor, Emmanuel Akin-Awokoya, holds degrees in both Engineering and Computer Science. In 2017, he co-founded InvestXD, a platform that provides tools to compare different investment products. It helps users learn about investment and discover the investment options with the best performance. They hope to bring about a new experience of investing, enabling people to invest as a group, invest towards a goal, and understand the money market. 

The multilingual entrepreneur is also a financial analyst, business developer, social media campaigner, business strategist and a fundraiser.  According to the mentor, “Robert is focused on developing his product”. “To me he is a smart entrepreneur” and our collaboration so far has been “wonderful”.