Launched in 2015, Kawa Moka is the brainchild of Emi-Beth Quantson, a former tax consultant and chartered accountant who moved into the world of coffee and became a LEAD Scholar of the Specialty Coffee Association. The social enterprise works with female farmers in Leklebi, in the Volta region of Ghana – an area that has produced coffee since the 1930s. The farmers grow, harvest and process the coffee before
Kawa Moka roasts and sells it. Emi-Beth aspires to bring recognition of the quality of the region’s coffee and of the small-scale farmers who produce it. As a women-oriented enterprise, Kawa Moka also provides employment for women who are otherwise excluded from Accra’s mainstream economy through its roasting and catering operations.

Kawa Moka started out selling filter coffee through pop-up kiosks at fairs and coworking spaces. The company then opened cafes at Impact Hub Accra and the MEST Accra hub before pivoting into high-volume coffee production. It also provides catering services at corporate and private events and has expanded to selling packaged coffee beans that can be brewed at home or in the office. Kawa Moka supplies retailers throughout Ghana and is expanding to international stockists. 

Kawa Moka is self-funded, but the business has received $5,000 from the Tony Elumelu Foundation and GH₵30,000 ($5,500) from a government-led pitch initiative to primarily fund asset acquisitions. Through the Orange Corners Acceleration Program, Kawa Moka also has access to patient capital of up to €50,000 ($56,000).

Photos by Paul Ninson, Xose Kakane and Emi Beth