Patrick Quarcoo, popularly known as PQ, is a Ghanaian

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

-based

serial entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

. He is the founder and chief executive officer of Radio Africa Group, which is an umbrella of among Kenya's leading media channels on print, digital, TV and radio. This include KISS 100, Classic 105, Smooth FM, Radio Jambo, East FM, Gukena FM, the ''Star'' newspaper and KISS TV. Quarcoo and his Radio Africa Group co-founder, William Pike also own two radio stations in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, Capital Radio and Beat FM. He came to Kenya from

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

Uganda in the 90s to start up a media company. In 2012, Quarcoo was awarded an international recognition award at the

Ghana UK-Based Achievement Awards GUBA Enterprise Grow, Unite, Build, Africa (GUBA) Enterprise formerly known as the Ghana UK Based Achievement is a social enterprise organization dedicated to the advancement of diaspora Africans and Africans back home through various socio-eco ...

Early life

Quarcoo was born poor in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. He was a young journalist when he decided to put together six radio segments – reporting on what was happening in Ghana, and then sent them to the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

. Three of these segments were taken up by BBC and soon, he was reporting regularly for the BBC,

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

, and other stations in London.

Radio Africa Group brands

Radio Africa Group is a leading radio, TV and newspaper business in Kenya, and it operates three of the top five radio stations in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

References

Kenyan businesspeople Kenyan radio people Kenyan radio presenters Kenyan radio journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Africa-business-bio-stub