Paa Grant

George Alfred Grant was born on August 15, 1878, in Beyin, Western Region. Entering the timber trade, he established his own export firm, George Grant and Company, amassing a fortune exporting mahogany to Britain and the United States and operating his own steam tugs and private telephone lines.

Appalled by colonial economic exploitation, Grant resolved to mobilize indigenous political power. In August 1947, at Saltpond, he founded and personally funded the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the first nationalist political party in the Gold Coast demanding self-government. He personally funded Kwame Nkrumah's return to the Gold Coast from London to serve as secretary, igniting the decisive movement toward independence.