Grace Bogui began selling attiéké, a traditional Ivorian dish from her dorm room all the way in Ghana. She was holding on to her memory, a dream, and the promise of a better tomorrow. Growing up, she often heard the joyful call, “Attieke is ready!” in the streets of Côte d’Ivoire. That sound, so full of warmth and home, became the heartbeat of her dream.
Grace Bogui, an Ivorian by birth, refugee by circumstance, and entrepreneur by sheer will, was only 13 when conflict forced her to leave Côte d’Ivoire and seek refuge in Ghana. The trauma of displacement came with heavy baggage as she lost contact with her brother during the war, and has never been able to regain contact. They were not running away from just conflict in Côted’Ivoire but also gender based violence that had been inflicted on her mother. Along with her mother they moved to Ghana and settled there with a hope for a better tomorrow.
I want to empower women in the camps, not just to cook, but to own their role in a supply chain that feeds nations.
Grace Bogui
However, Grace did not crumble. Instead, she opted to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and shaped them into a purpose. She continued pursuing her studies after earning a scholarship to study Law and she is currently pursuing a masters in International Relations and Diplomacy. Morethan education, her love for cooking food, especially Attiéké, was simmering.
In her cramped hostel room, she began cooking and delivering meals to students and locals, using food as a way to reconnect with home and slowly building a future she admired. Her first few orders were delivered in the rain, no predetermined delivery system and only a dream. This is how Attiéké Love was born, not as a grand restaurant with many employees or a funded startup, but as one woman with two hands, one stove, and a relentless determination. Serving meals from her dorm room and delivering them to her fellow students and other locals. Over time she saved enough money to move operations from her hostel to her home. She hired her first staff, fellow refugees, and began expanding meal delivery across Accra, Ghana.
Everything changed when she joined the Amahoro Fellowship program. With funding and mentorship, she was able to upgrade her operations by investing in a motorbike and hiring a rider from a refugee camp to help with deliveries and also online sales. She has been able to hire six more women who are also displaced persons with lived experience of gender based violence and through her venture she is working on ensuring that they do not suffer in silence but rather they are uplifted to achieve their dreams.
This is evident in one of her first hires, a young woman who was living in Ghana as a displaced person from Togo, has grown under Attiéké Love to join a top Ghanaian University where she is pursuing her studies while continuing with her work on part-time basis. Attiéké Love has hosted several gastronomy events and was twice invited to cook at the residence of the Ivorian Ambassador to Ghana. The brand has also expanded beyond local markets, delivering raw attiéké to customers in Canada, the UK, and the USA.
Everything changed when she joined the Amahoro Fellowship program. With funding and mentorship, she was able to upgrade her operations by investing in a motorbike and hiring a rider from a refugee camp to help with deliveries and also online sales. She has been able to hire six more women who are also displaced persons with lived experience of gender based violence and through her venture she is working on ensuring that they do not suffer in silence but rather they are uplifted to achieve their dreams.
This is evident in one of her first hires, a young woman who was living in Ghana as a displaced person from Togo, has grown under Attiéké Love to join a top Ghanaian University where she is pursuing her studies while continuing with her work on part-time basis. Attiéké Love has hosted several gastronomy events and was twice invited to cook at the residence of the Ivorian Ambassador to Ghana. The brand has also expanded beyond local markets, delivering raw attiéké to customers in Canada, the UK, and the USA.
While Grace currently imports cassava from Côte d’Ivoire at a very high cost, her dreams are to build the entire value chain from the farm to fork, by ensuring displaced individuals can grow cassava in large scale which she can then buy and produce Attieke at scale.
Her dream does not just stop at Accra but with setting up more branches of Attiéké Love across West Africa in Nigeria and Togo and also other countries in Africa like Kenya and Rwanda. Whereeveryone can come and enjoy Attieke Love because it is for everyone. It is soft, simple, and universal just like love and can be experienced by everyone.
For Grace, Attieke Love is all about creating a space where refugees feel seen, valued, and at home. It is her way of encouraging more people to start, even if it is small, you just need to start. Through consistency and being on the look out for opportunities, you will be able to build a legacy.
For those who dare doubt her dream, she just shrugs with a smile and says, “I’m just getting started!”
While Grace currently imports cassava from Côte d’Ivoire at a very high cost, her dreams are to build the entire value chain from the farm to fork, by ensuring displaced individuals can grow cassava in large scale which she can then buy and produce Attieke at scale.
Her dream does not just stop at Accra but with setting up more branches of Attiéké Love across West Africa in Nigeria and Togo and also other countries in Africa like Kenya and Rwanda. Whereeveryone can come and enjoy Attieke Love because it is for everyone. It is soft, simple, and universal just like love and can be experienced by everyone.
For Grace, Attieke Love is all about creating a space where refugees feel seen, valued, and at home. It is her way of encouraging more people to start, even if it is small, you just need to start. Through consistency and being on the look out for opportunities, you will be able to build a legacy.
For those who dare doubt her dream, she just shrugs with a smile and says, “I’m just getting started!”
