Former Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has opened up about his early life struggles, revealing how he engaged in several small businesses as a child, including selling kerosene in his village.

Speaking on The Career Trail on Joy Learning TV and JoyNews, he recounted growing up at a time when electricity was unavailable in his community, making lanterns and kerosene essential for daily life.

“I used to sell kerosene. In those days, there was no electricity in the village. Everybody used lanterns, and they depended on kerosene,” he recounted.

He described how he purchased kerosene in bulk and retailed it in smaller quantities to households, often in the evenings.

He added that payments were not always immediate, as many customers bought on credit and delayed settling their debts.

“So we would buy a gallon of kerosene and retail it. You get bottles, fill them, place them in a bucket, and go around the town in the evening calling out. Then people would call you,” he narrated.

Beyond kerosene sales, Dr Adutwum highlighted other childhood ventures, including snail hunting during the rainy season.

“There was a season when snails would come out. Early in the mornings, around 5 a.m. or 6 a.m., you pick them from under trees and sell them in town. People even came from Kumasi to buy,” he said.

He also spoke about making baskets from cane and transporting them to Kumasi for sale.

“I used to make baskets. You go into the bush to get cane, weave it, and take it to Kumasi. Sometimes, I had about 20 or 30 to sell,” he added.

Reflecting on how he used his earnings, he noted that his first purchase was educational. “The first thing I did with the money was to buy a book because there were no books in my house,” he shared.

“I would also go to the secondhand clothing market—what we call ‘Fos Line’ in Kumasi—to get clothes to wear and show off in the village,” he added.

He said these experiences taught him valuable lessons in entrepreneurship, including credit management, understanding customer behaviour, and discipline.

“When you look back, you realise it was all entrepreneurship—who to sell to on credit, who not to sell to. All those lessons were part of growing up,” he reflected.

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I used to sell kerosene" – Dr Adutwum talks about his childhood business

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