On his spirited mission to create awareness about mental health, inspire, motivate and transform mindsets in Africa, Ghanaian fintech pioneer, health tech entrepreneur and mental catalyst, Michael Amankwa, aka Don Milla has conquered one more of the highest summits in the world, Mount Elbrus in Russia.

Standing 5,642 meters tall, Mount Elbrus is the highest mountain in the whole of Europe. It is situated in the western part of the North Caucasus and is virtually covered in snow almost all year round.

For Michael though, summitting Elbrus this time round, was just a matter of course, because prior to that, he had already conquered the tallest mountain in Africa, the 5,895-meter-tall Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which is 253 meters taller than Elbrus.

Don Milla is believed to be the first Ghanaian to have summitted both Kilimanjaro and Elbrus, and he is well on his way to climbing all seven (7) summits which are the highest peaks on all seven continents, with the 8,849 meters-tall Mount Everest being his final attempt.

Charity, they say, begins at home. Michael has been preparing for these feats for several years back home in Ghana. It all began with him conquering the tallest mountain in the country, Afadzato (885 metres) 21 times in two years.
Then, in what took the country by storm in November last year, Michael and seven of his friends christened the Zen Riderrs, cycled for 1,300 kilometres all the way from Ghana’s capital, Accra to up north, Tamale and back in just eleven days.

That trip had a team of mental health experts on board. Michael and the team made several stopovers at schools, market centres and radio stations, where they delivered talks on mental health and challenged mindsets in the positive direction. He also used the period to deliver ten solid messages about mindset transformation.

On his journey to conquer Elbrus, Michael met two other Africans, Akin from Nigeria, Nancy from Kenya, and they did the climbing together.

So, with Afadzato, Kilimanjaro and now Elbrus down, Michael has three more mountains to scale on three more continents before taking on Everest, the highest peak in the world.

According to Michael, as a Mental Catalyst, his mission is to “inspire, motivate, and help young people transform their mindsets for personal growth and positive change.”

By undertaking these tough but cool challenges, Michael demonstrates that truly as human beings “we are limitless and highly capable of anything we set our minds on to do.”

As he did during the Accra-Tamale-Accra bike trip, Michael also leverages these challenges to educate, entertain and inspire his audience. His primary motivation is promoting mental health causes a subject very dear to his heart.