MTN Ghana has launched its 2023 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) Month with a pledge to support SMEs with relevant digital tools to scale up their businesses while leading the drive for digital and financial inclusion.
In his keynote address at the event held at the company’s head office in Accra, acting Chief Enterprise Business Officer of MTN Ghana, Daniel Asare, noted that beyond creating opportunities for businesses, particularly SMEs to succeed, the telecommunications company deems it necessary to develop solutions that enable them to operate more efficiently and remain competitive and sustainable.
According to him, MTN for over two decades has strategically invested in the growth of the SME ecosystem in diverse ways, adding that its contribution to supporting the growth of businesses in Ghana cannot be over emphasised.
“For example, we can confidently say that many of the suppliers within our supply chain who started as SMEs have significantly grown to the levels they find themselves currently. Similarly, a lot of our value added businesses, content partners, fintech businesses, vendors of digital services among others starting as small businesses have grown and expanded into medium and large enterprises,” Mr. Asare explained.
Themed: “Optimizing business solution for SME growth”, the SME Month, which runs throughout July, aims to expose businesses to MTN business solutions such as SME plus, Business Manager and Messenger, Microsoft Office 365 and Business websites to drive growth, enabling them reach out to more customers with their products and services while also being exposed to solutions that allow them to efficiently manage their finances, inventory and other administrative functions.
As the company seeks to be a platform player in order to fast track digitisation, he noted that it has become imperative for it to create an enabling environment for SMEs to access world class solution at affordable cost.
Against this backdrop, he said: “In the weeks up to the end of July, there will be SMEs activations across different locations in Accra and Kumasi, trading sections for selected SMEs, customer appreciation programs, presentations on our businesses solutions, exciting product highlights and quizzes. And the icing on the cake will be the SME fares to be held in the two major urban settlements in Ghana”.
While highlighting the need for SMEs to adopt digital and technology solutions in order for them to survive, he averred that with innovations, they can build and analyse data for their own operations in new ways to enhance performance.
Considering the challenges facing SMEs, he noted that there is the need for them to access solutions that are trusted, efficient and resilient to enable them reap the full benefit of the modern connected world.
Meanwhile, to bridge gap in technology, he said MTN business through its SME solutions is making it easier for SMEs to improve their operational efficiency at affordable cost.
SMEs have played a key role in the growth and development of Ghana’s economy. It is estimated that they form about 90 percent of businesses in the country. They also provide about 80 percent of the country’s total employment and account for 60 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
