MTN Ghana in partnership with SME GrowAfrica (SMEGA) has launched the Small Medium Enterprises Ghana Awards (SMEGA 2025).
The annual award scheme was instituted thirteen years ago to recognise the achievements of small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Ghana.
The Executive Director and Co-founder of SMEGA, Kwesi Ofori Jr., in his address acknowledged the challenges entrepreneurs faces in setting up in the prevailing uncertain economic climate.
This situation he said calls for resilience and adaptability in the entrepreneur, with the adaptation of smart solutions to stay relevant and scalable.
He however noted that businesses that are creating jobs and transforming communities find the platform relevant.
Ofori said that businesses that are selected will undergo a masterclass, get opportunies for partnership, mentorship and investments and opportunities to go beyond Ghana’s borders.”
Chief Enterprise officer at MTN, Angela Mensah-Poku, in a speech delivered on her behalf by the Senior Manager in charge of SME Sales, Mohammed Abubakar Siddiq, said, the awards will honour enterprises across 18 categories, including agribusiness, manufacturing, digital technology, trade, women entrepreneurship among others.
He noted that this partnership with SMEGA is a statement of purpose. He said, “SMEGA shines the spotlight, MTN works year round, ensuring that more Ghanaian businesses are ready to stand confidently in that spotlight.”
He stated further, “MTN Business Unit exists to ensure that Ghanaian businesses of every size and from every region have the tools, connectivity and support they need to grow and compete.”
Siddiq explained that MTN has invested over $1 billion into improving Ghana’s digital “because a connected SME is a competitive SME.”
He went further to say that through it’s various programmes tailored towards entrepreneurship, MTN is strengthening the ecosystem from which future serial winners will emerge.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Margaret Ansei, commended SMEGA for their commitment to recognising and celebrating Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
She declared, “our businesses are not short of potential, they simply need the right platform and support system to compete internationally.”
She stressed the importance of digitalisation in bridging th gsp between businesses and their potential customers, with customers now able to reach businesses, regardless of where they are in the country or the world.
Ansei said, “the question is no longer whether Ghanaian SMEs can compete globally. They can. The real question is whether we are build the right ecosystem to enable them do so. At the GEA, this question drives everything we do, from policy direction to programme design and strategic partnerships.”
She however admitted that many of Ghana’s SMEs, which constitute over 85% of businesses in the country, continue to face various challenges to growth. She however said these challenges must serve as a call to all relevant players including government, banks and other financial institutions, development partners and telecommunication companies to work together with Ghanaian entrepreneurs to overcome these challenges.
This year’s awards are being held under the theme, ‘empowering SMEs to scale beyond borders, through innovation, resilience and digital solutions.’
