Despite many meaningful efforts, Ghana still has far to go in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, which is the first Millennium Development Goal. 44.8% of Ghana's population fall beneath the internationally recognised threshold for extreme poverty ($1 per day of purchasing power), and 22% of children in Ghana remain underweight.

For three years, a small company in Accra, called Bullseye Marketing, has been working quietly behind the scenes, to complement the efforts of the governmental and non-governmental agencies in reducing poverty through media. Through a popular 30-minute weekly television programme called M’asem, Bullseye inspires, motivates and educates the populace in starting and growing their own businesses, by telling the untold stories of successful indigenous Ghanaian entrepreneurs.

After airing more than a hundred episodes, Bullseye’s efforts won official recognition at the prestigious Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Awards last Saturday, where the company received the award for Best TV Programme of the Year 2007.

Cyril Heymann, the CEO of Bullseye Marketing, commented, ‘We believe media can be a powerful social and developmental tool for improving the quality of lives of our people. The immense impact of Masem and this recognition proves this fact. Beyond that, this award is about our stakeholders – our guests, without whose sharing we would not have the programme; our sponsors, cherished viewers and staff. We dedicate this award to the masses who watch the show and are committed to creating a better life for themselves. We urge them to go on, and even possibly, to appear on the show some day.”

What’s next for the award winner? Heymann says Masem now wants to ‘Grow Entrepreneurs’. Between October and November this year, the training arm of M’asem, the M’asem Business Academy (MBA), together with featured guests from the M’asem TV programme, entrepreneurship trainers and motivational speakers, will be touring Ghana, conducting free seminars for 500 participants in each of the country’s ten regions. Heymann continues, ‘We are calling on corporate Ghana to come on board with us: we have several other compelling concepts that can truly help our people and we would love to engage them in getting these programmes off the shelf.’

M’asem airs on TV3, at 8pm every Thursday.