The Bill Gates of Ghana
Herman Chinery-Hesse
He built SOFTtribe when African software wasn’t a thing — and proved it could be.
Born in 1963, Herman Chinery-Hesse studied industrial technology and returned to Ghana with an unusual conviction: that world-class software could be built in Accra, for African conditions. In 1991 he founded SOFTtribe — when almost nobody on the continent was selling packaged software.
SOFTtribe’s payroll, accounting and enterprise systems ended up running in hundreds of organisations across Africa; its mobile innovations (including early text-to-speech in local languages and anti-fraud tools) won global awards. The press dubbed him “the Bill Gates of Ghana” — a tag he wore lightly while insisting African tech should solve African problems.
A sought-after speaker from TED to the World Bank, he mentored generations of Ghanaian founders before his death in September 2024. Ghana’s tech ecosystem — from hubs to fintechs — stands partly on ground he cleared.
Key facts
- Born 1963; founded SOFTtribe in 1991.
- Built payroll, ERP and mobile software used across Africa.
- Dubbed “the Bill Gates of Ghana” by international press.
- Global speaker (TED, World Bank) and startup mentor.
- Died September 2024; mourned as a tech pioneer.
Put the story in context: explore the History of Ghana to see the eras Herman Chinery-Hesse helped shape.
Herman Chinery-Hesse FAQs
Who was Herman Chinery-Hesse?
Founder of SOFTtribe (1991), Ghana’s pioneering software company, celebrated as “the Bill Gates of Ghana” for proving African-built software could lead.
What did SOFTtribe build?
Payroll, accounting and enterprise systems used by hundreds of African organisations, plus award-winning mobile and anti-fraud innovations.
When did Herman Chinery-Hesse die?
September 2024. Ghana’s tech community honoured him as the godfather of its software industry.
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