Accra, June 21, GNA - The fourth edition of the Vodafone Small and Medium Enterprises Ghana Awards (SMEGA’16) is set to go a step further in roping in micro businesses with the introduction of the ‘Promising Micro Company of the Future’ category.
The category will award micro enterprises and is expected to help such business to grow and scale up to become small businesses and grow from there.
According to Mr Kwesi Ofori Junior, Project Lead for the SMEGA, an initiative of Imagine8, who spoke at a press launch of SMEGA’16, the new category was to give micro businesses the opportunity to participate and to grow.
He explained that results of a survey conducted with award winners in the three previous editions of the Awards, showed that including micro businesses who participated in such awards performed better and grew.
“Agro Africa was just six months when they competed for the rising star category of the awards, when they won, they went on international dealership and has been well since then. They have won the Ghana Investment Promotion Council’s Company of the Future award,” he stated.
Mr Ofori said micro enterprises formed the chunk of businesses in Ghana and were doing well thus the need to “bring them into the limelight”, adding that this would also help to set out structures for business growth from micro, to small, medium and large companies.
“SMEGA believes that in order to empower and sustain our MSMEs to be globally competitive and as a means of achieving our vision and mission of the SMEGA project, we need to help build the appropriate structures for businesses,” he said.
The theme for this year’s awards: “Sustaining Ghana’s SMEs in a globally competitive market- Uncovering the Pillars of Profitable Growth in a digitised Business World”, will highlight the critical role of technology in driving profitable growth.
Nominations for the awards are open and the awards ceremony is slated for 28th September, 2017 at the Banquet Hall of the State House. SMEs can apply through online at www.smeghanaawards.com
Angela Mensah-Poku, Head of Vodafone Business Solutions (VBS), said Vodafone believed technology was what would drive the quest to transform Ghanaian businesses into multinational companies, thus its sponsoring the SMEGA project for the last three years.
She said VBS was focused on growing micro enterprises in multinationals who could ‘think globally and act locally’ by building their capacity.
“Technology is the driver for this change. You can act local and be global by using technology and that’s what Vodafone Business Solutions seeks to do,” she said.
Ms. Mensah-Poku said VBS enables businesses to use simple, everyday tools such as tablets and phones to promote their businesses.
“These are business tools you use to advertise, to reach out, or to segment your customers. You can make sure that you are reaching out to international markets,” and urged businesses to take advantage of the awards and the resources available to them through the awards.
Papa Bartels, Team Leader of the SPS project at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), represented Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, commended the organisers for the awards saying they were complementing governments to grow businesses and pledged the Ministry’s continued support to the awards.
He said businesses had to adapt to current business thinking in order to compete as equals on the global market. He said to do good business, SMEs must be abreast with the science, technology, engineering and innovation of business.
“This is what we need to drive our businesses from SMEs to multinationals,” he stated, adding that the theme for the awards was apt.
He added that government, through the Ministry was undertaking several interventions in a bid to be an enabler for business growth in the country.
These, he said, included development of SMEs, strategic anchor industries, establishment of industrial parks, business regulatory reforms and enhancing the domestic retail infrastructure, among others.
Launching the awards, he urged SMEs to apply and benefit from the development programmes outlined for winner and participants.
GNA
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS