While businesses through Ghana struggle, Francis Kofigah is frying his way to success.

The 27-year-old entrepreneur set up Dough Man Foods in May 2016, its first six months has seen it grow beyond any expectation he had.

Dough Man Foods makes and sells American-style doughnuts, but with a Ghanaian twist.

Kofigah tells Pulse.com.gh his doughnut venture was born from a life-long disdain of vegetables.

He loves pastries, and whenever he went into a bakery he would actively search out the ones that didn't have a hint of vegetables in them. More vegetable-free pastries needed to be available for people like him he decided – and he was the man to supply them.

With a core team, he set up Dough Man Foods and runs it from a small space in Dzorwulu. Alongside his chief operating officer, Karen Awo Mensah, Kofigah adds the toppings to the hundreds of doughnuts awaiting delivery through Accra.

There are doughnuts with jam fillings, some are covered in chocolate and others have crushed groundnuts sprinkled on top.

While Kofigah has cut back on the six a day he used to eat, when he does indulge he will pick a 'milky way' flavour – white chocolate and coconut.

The dough itself is similar to Ghana's bofrot, and compared to American doughnuts, Dough Man's are not as sweet.

“We balance the sugar,” Kofigah explains.

“We know Ghanaians do not have the same sweet tooth as other places. This is one of the selling points we have – the feedback we get is the dough is not too sweet.”

Almost all the ingredients used are locally-sourced.

“I believe in made in Ghana. I believe there is something good that can come - if we are going to invest, we need to invest in our own produce.”

The business has grown rapidly since its inception.

They struggled to sell 30 doughnuts a day at the beginning – now they are churning out 500-600 a day, with customers from banks, school and government institutions ordering regularly.

His day starts at 4am, where he and his staff cook the doughnuts, then through the morning they will ice them and arrange the deliveries.

With five employees under him, Kofigah says he is an entrepreneur at heart. He has always been self-employed and splits his time between Dough Man Foods and his other start-up, developing software for companies.

Currently the doughnuts sell through Accra and Kumasi, but within the next year he wants to expand across Ghana.

Succeeding in a struggling economy

In 2015 Ghana had to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout as global commodity prices tanked. Since then, the economy has been battered with dumsor, inflation has been on the increase and businesses and consumers have been faced with rising costs in water, fuel and electricity, with many companies having to close down due to unaffordable bills.

Despite the climate, Dough Man Foods is making a profit.

“The economy is not helping as the prices of raw material keep increasing. We invest heavily in social media marketing so we can get more customers to cater for the cost, so we are doing well [we are] above the economic hardships.”

While Ghana is currently enjoying relatively stable power, earlier in the year Kofigah struggled with dumsor; production was at the mercy of an electric machine. When the power was off orders would be delayed, causing frustration for those early customers.

And with a nod to the home of doughnuts – America - Kofigah hopes to get a new set of customers soon.

“I know American cops love doughnuts, but here in Ghana we are still trying to get the Ghana police to love our doughnuts – maybe they will help them to stop all the crimes.”