The TUNIQ Africa Story: Emma Ofosua
Her world revolves around the intersections of literature, artistry, fashion, and food, at the core of which is one who embodies the resilience of reinvention. Emma Ofosua; author, poet, freestyle spoken word artist, emcee, and the visionary behind TUNIQ Africa, isn’t just building a brand. She’s welding together a life of meaning, powered by creativity and courage.
This is her story, bold, and uniquely African.
The First Taste of Profit
Long before the world knew her name, Emma got her first taste of entrepreneurship under the age of 15. Inspired by the fruit trees that grew everywhere around her father’s compound and watching her industrious mother run a chain of food stalls around the clock, she diversified her product line from the few ripe mangoes she had picked from the front yard, used her Christmas money to buy a sack of oranges and determined to turn a passion project into profit.
“I liked oranges, living across from a church, the families that came, always drove 150m, and had the kids buying oranges after evening service especially leading up to and during lent , so I thought, why not sell them instead?”
She bought a set of blue fruit carving knives, and even sought out an orange seller to teach her how to use the knives in peeling them properly, proof that excellence, for Emma, has always been non-negotiable. Trips to the market with her mother became lessons in: haggling, sourcing, sales, and strategy.
One such trip ended with Emma getting lost in the crowd to be sent to the Nima police station. But even that moment now feels symbolic. Lost for a moment, yes, but always found.
Skills That Became Seeds
After high school, her mother continued to sow seeds of enterprise. Emma didn’t just wait for opportunity, she built it with her hands. Enrolling in catering school, she explored baking, fruit carving and with her sheer determination, she experimented with bead-making. Each new skill wasn’t just a hobby; it was a seed of possibility.
That desire to create and be enterprising, led her to study Integrated Rural Art and Industry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; a practical program where she focused on bamboo and metal jewelry. Internships and student projects deepened in her the dream of building something of her own.
Life After School — the Reality Check
After graduating, Emma returned to Accra with a determination to start a jewelry business. But like many dreams, hers collided with reality. Equipment costs were high; kilns, tools, raw materials, and capital was low. She would once in a while take jewelry orders and work from friends’ shops or travel long distances to make them which was not sustainable as far as she could see.
So, she pivoted.
Emma took an internship at a technology company, worked in banking for a while, and eventually found herself in the lifestyle sector, rising to handle two (2) managerial roles simultaneously. Even as her career grew, her entrepreneurial spirit remained alive.
The Birth (and Rebirth) of TUNIQ Africa
Emma co-founded a fashion, jewelry(beads) and wedding planning services business while still working full-time. It ran for two years, but eventually, the partnership dissolved. From that closure, something more personal emerged, TUNIQ Africa.
The name came from the desire to create something truly reflective of her peculiarities: Totally Unique Africa. It started off as a project management and packaging company, designed to house all the skills and ideas she could bring to life.
“I did a self-assessment to understand what people come to me for, and I built a company around that.”
Still, projects weren’t always consistent. Emma needed a product, something tangible to ensure daily sales, a fast moving consumable. That’s when “Mashké”, a popular Ghanaian dessert made from kenkey, came into focus. She had been making her own and sharing it at work. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. So, she packaged it.
TUNIQ Foods was born.
Banking Crash, Bad Deal and a Pandemic
By the time the 2017 banking crisis erased her savings, Emma Ofosua had already left both her corporate job and a two year business partnership, to pour herself into building — Mashké. An investor friend offered “help”: An installment which began but ended with a one time GHS 1,000 for 37% equity, far below the agreed budget. What she believed to be a joint-capacity-building endeavor, and promised support, only delivered pressure with sky-high expectations and stalled the growth of her venture.
Then came COVID-19 followed by lockdown which didn’t help matters, even though Mashké belonged in the essential services they didn’t have the right documentation to verify the claim.
Hence leading to a complete production shutdown. Emotionally and mentally, Emma found herself in a dark place.
“It felt like everything I had worked on wasn’t becoming sustainably profitable. I was on the verge of depression,” she says. “I learned the hard way, to be cautious with early investment and only build with people I can trust.”
Healing Through Words: The Birth of an Author
In lockdown, Emma turned inward, and to writing. What began as journaling soon became a manuscript. Encouraged by a friend and supported by creatives who helped with design and production, Emma completed her first book: I Wish You Courage.
The first 50 copies were sold before launch. Then came a literary tour powered by an MTN stakeholder engagement project, taking her across Ghana. More opportunities came along the line, leading her to other countries. The exposure led to a complete sell-out of the book, and a reprint.
Emma had reinvented herself once again, this time as a writer and freestyle poet. TUNIQ Africa had found its new identity as a press and artist management outfit belonging in the literary space.
Building a Movement: The All Africa Women Poetry Festival
In 2023, Emma launched the All Africa Women Poetry Festival (AAWPF): a week long residency styled literary festival that hosts 10 poets from across the continent of Africa and the diaspora with the goal of celebrating literary legends, giving them their literal flowers while they can still smell it, and telling the African Story from the woman’s perspective through Poetry and folklore.
The timing couldn’t have been better, it felt like the world had been waiting. What started as a concept quickly grew into a full-blown international conference of poets.
With it came new products of the TUNIQ ecosystem:
- Hadithi Magazine — a literary and lifestyle magazine archiving and amplifying our stories.
- Tabono Anthology — a literary journal publishing African writers and contemporary voices.
TUNIQ Africa was no longer just Emma’s personal brand. It was now a platform, a movement, and a company, with poetry at its heart and Africa in its soul.
Underground Growth, Overground Glory
Emma Ofosua’s journey is far from linear. It’s been dotted with pivots, setbacks, and soul-searching. But through it all, one lesson stands out:
“Sometimes, growth happens underground before anything shows above the surface, this is proof that life happens in seasons, and there are seasons you must not miss, especially those that call you to growth. #iwishyoucourage”
Patiently and purposefully, she continues to grow. With TUNIQ Africa, she’s building more than a business. She’s creating a template for Africa’s creative future, powered by words, and grounded in bold authenticity.
Follow Emma’s Work
- 📘 I Wish You Courage
- 📸 Instagram: @emmaofsua @tuniqafrica @tuniqafricalbg
- 🎥 YouTube
- 🌐 AAWPF
Help keep the fight in Emma by partnering on Patreon.
