The Leaders Column

From the factory floor to site supervisor

Ask John Kodzo Cliford what he does, and he’ll be the first to admit it’s not a simple answer. “I’m a multi-skilled person, which leaves me in a puzzle when asked what I do,” he laughs. “I guess my love is to bring results.”

That love for results started somewhere unglamorous: a polythene production factory in Ghana, where John began as a regular worker. Through sheer determination, he moved up, first to former and staffer, then to supervisor, a role he held until the company closed its doors around 2014.

It’s the kind of early chapter a lot of leaders leave out of their story. John leans into it instead, because it’s where he learned the lesson that still shapes how he leads today.

“There I learned my human relationships skills, because supervision wasn’t only about achieving the set targets, but making sure all ten fingers return home safely as well.”

After the factory closed, John moved into construction, joining a company as a personal assistant, clerk of works, and supervisor. That job put him on the ground for a wide mix of projects: government-backed affordable housing developments, private residential homes for individual families, and international work, including the Mantrac West Africa workshop in Tarkwa. It was a hands-on education in how buildings actually get made, from paperwork to pouring concrete.

The problem he decided to fix

Every founder has a moment where watching a problem happen one too many times turns into a decision to do something about it. For John, that moment came from watching investors get burned.

“As a builder, it’s fascinating to bring ideas into form, from concept to drawings, through the challenges on site, to finishing a building,” he says. But the more time he spent in the industry, the more he noticed a troubling pattern as a director of PGI: investors, often eager and well-meaning, falling into the hands of dubious middlemen who took advantage of their trust.

“I decided to step forward.”

He backed that decision by training at the Farouk Khailan School of African Greatness, sharpening the skills he’d need to do something about it properly.

That instinct, to protect the people putting their money and trust into a project, is the thread that runs through everything Cliford has built since.

Building things that used to just be paper

John’s work today runs through two organizations: Rapide Developer and PGI.

Rapide Developer, as he describes it, “has the experience and the technical know-how to bring each project from paper to actual.” It’s the execution engine, the part of the business that turns a drawing into a finished structure.

PGI is where the trust-building happens. “We have met and successfully brought satisfaction to most investors who have come our way,” John says. What makes that possible, he believes, is understanding the full picture around a project, not just the technical side. “We understand the dynamics of every approach: culture, family ties, and finally achieving success.”

That’s a deliberately human way to describe a construction and investment business. But for Cliford, that’s the whole point. Buildings don’t get finished by blueprints alone. They get finished by people who trust each other enough to see a project through.

Growing Ghana’s next generation of entrepreneurs

Ask John for his proudest milestone, and he doesn’t point to a building. He points to a competition.

Through PGI, John has become a partner to most universities in Ghana via Enactus, a global entrepreneurship competition for students. Teams compete nationally, and the winner goes on to represent Ghana at the international level. This year’s national final is on July 31, 2026, where John will once again serve as a judge, and the winning team will go on to compete in Brazil.

“This act continues to groom the young ones, as they continue to observe their community and come out with solutions that bring employment, as well as meeting all the SDGs.”

It’s a milestone that says a lot about how John measures success. Not just what his own companies build, but what the next generation of Ghanaian entrepreneurs is being equipped to build after him.

What patience taught him

Leading across construction, energy, and agribusiness means working with a wide range of people, and Cliford is candid that this hasn’t always been easy.

“We come from diverse cultures, so it takes time to know each one and understand their path before reaching a conclusion,” he says. “Negotiation skills have been helpful.”

“As with nature, you can’t rush the process, but rather guide it until it’s mature. Giving up isn’t the option. And no is also an answer, and it doesn’t end relationships.”

That last point matters more than it might sound at first. In an industry where deals fall through and investors walk away, Cliford treats a no as part of the conversation, not the end of it.

The values behind the decisions

When asked what principles guide his leadership, John doesn’t reach for a business framework. He reaches for scripture, Galatians 5:22 to 23, which names the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.

“Trying to wrap around these virtues and applying them where necessary has aided me,” he says.

It’s a grounded, personal answer, and it fits the rest of his story. Whether he’s talking about supervising factory workers, negotiating with investors, or mentoring university students, the same underlying values keep showing up: patience, humility, and care for the people on the other side of the table.

The Leaders Column Perspective

What comes through most in John Kodzo Cliford‘s story isn’t a single big win. It’s consistency. He learned to lead by making sure factory workers went home safe, not just by hitting targets. He built a construction business by protecting investors from the middlemen who exploit them. He’s spending part of this year judging a university entrepreneurship competition simply because it grows the next generation of Ghanaian talent. None of that is flashy. All of it is the kind of leadership that compounds over time, project by project, relationship by relationship. What stands out most is how Cliford treats trust as the actual product, not the buildings, not the deals, but the confidence that investors, workers, and students place in him to do right by them. That’s a harder thing to build than a housing development, and a much harder thing to fake.

Advice for the next generation

John’s advice to aspiring leaders is short, and it comes straight from experience running two organizations at once.

“A leader’s is a sole journey, and your absence shouldn’t bring a stop to progress. Don’t break communication in any form.”

It’s advice about resilience, but also about humility, building something that doesn’t depend entirely on you being in the room.

What he’s working on next

John’s calendar over the next few weeks tells you a lot about how he leads.

Starting July 27, 2026, PGI is launching a water production center, built specifically to support victims of the flooding caused by Ghana’s June 29 rainfall, which destroyed lives and property. Days later, on July 31, Cliford returns to judge the Enactus university finals at GNAT Hall, then helps prepare the winning team for their trip to Brazil to compete on the world stage.

Disaster relief one week, mentoring the country’s next generation of entrepreneurs the next. For Cliford, both are simply part of the same job.

About John Kodzo Cliford

John Kodzo Cliford is Director of Rapide Developer and PGI, working across construction, energy, and agribusiness in Ghana. He began his career as a factory worker before moving into construction supervision, and today leads projects spanning government, private, and international developments. He is a longtime partner to Ghanaian universities through the Enactus entrepreneurship competition, serving as a judge and mentor to student teams headed for international competition.

Company: Rapide Developer / PGI

Industry: Construction, Energy, Agribusiness

Location: Ghana