Born in Ada, in Ghana on the 14th of December 1879, Alfred John Kabu Ocansey was heir to his father, Mr William Ocansey, a successful entrepreneur.  His mother was Salome Ocansey.

Alfred went to school at the Presbyterian School in the capital, Accra, and at sixteen was employed by Messrs F & A Swanzy Limited which eventually became part of the United Africa Company.   He worked with the company for fourteen years and having learnt much about commerce, opened his own trading company.  Ocansey owned the Ocansey Stores and City Press.  He sold general goods in his many branches scattered around the country. Alfred Ocansey was the first person to import and sell gramophones and radio receiver sets in the then Gold Coast.

He was also the owner of a bank and three newspapers in the country namely, the Gold Coast Spectator, Asenta and the Spectator Daily.  These were leading newspapers, and he used this medium to air his views on the politics of his time.  Ocansey is known to be the first person to own an indigenous cinema and to own an electric generator.  His cinema was called Palladium, after the London Palladium, which he himself had visited.  It was located in Jamestown right across from the Wesley Methodist Church.

At the time, films were silent films screened through a hand cranked projector.  The audiences made up for the lack of sound by actively engaging in loud commentaries whilst the film was ongoing.  Audiences also made requests when there was a fight scene or chase for the operator to crank the projector faster.  Terminologies like ‘killer’ and ‘Jack’   were created from these experiences. ‘Killer’ referred to the villain and ‘Jack’ the protagonist who always won the fight with the villain.  In some cases when Jack, or the killer was killed, members of the audience would leave.  Later, Ocansey employed gramophone sounds and in 1933 he introduced colour film to his cinema business in the Gold Coast

He also was known to have invented a hair cutting machine that brought him even more wealth. He passed away in 1943 aged 64 the businessman, banker and inventor was greatly mourned.