Mrs Gwyneth Gyimah Addo, Chief Executive Officer of Hair Senta, has called on young entrepreneurs to enhance their businesses with digitalization.
“The more service oriented you become through the adoption of this new digital age, the more relevant you shall become,” Mrs Addo stated in her presentation at the launch of the 2023 Women in Entrepreneur Awards (WIEA) and Ellevate summit in Accra.
WIEA seeks to recognise, honour and encourage hardworking women entrepreneurs contributing to economic growth and driving the women empowerment agenda in Ghana.
The event, which was organized by Women in Entrepreneurship Ghana (WIEG) in partnership with ‘Ellevate by Ecobank’, was on the theme: “Digitization: Scaling-up Business in Economic Crisis”.
It was supported by Tasty Tom Ghana, Pocketi App Ghana, Buttercream Gueen Ghana, Sylvotes, Tamara Beverages, Kukuus photos, BigXstudios and many more
Mrs Addo encouraged young entrepreneurs to look beyond challenges and have a solution-mindset, this, she said would enable them grow their businesses.
She also touched on the need for entrepreneurs to serve, “greatness is the by-product of learning how to serve, so we first have to be servants, if a customer approaches and you don’t have a heart to serve how you will get the time to think of new ideas to solve problems”.
Miss Emma-Marie Deeku, General Manager of WIEA said the award scheme does not only award winners but also present recognition certificates to all nominees, this, she said would encourage all participants to strive for excellence.
She said this year, WIEA has introduced two new categories; ‘Woman Entrepreneur Under 25 of the Year’, and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Entrepreneur of the Year.
She explained that the PWD category seeks to give recognition to entrepreneurs with disabilities who have demonstrated excellence and innovation, whiles the ‘Woman Entrepreneur Under 25 of the Year seeks to identify and empower young women doing exceptionally well with their business.
Miss Deeku , who noted that in addition to the 25 categories WIEA would also recognise and celebrate ‘100 Most Successful Women Entrepreneurs’ in Ghana, therefore encouraged women to persevere and be determined to achieve higher heights in life.
Oheneyere Gifty Anti, who chaired the event, also encouraged nominees to strive for excellence, adding that “the recognition implies you are being inspired therefore winning the award should be an extra burden to do more”.
She mentioned that they should be deliberate in adding value to themselves and purposeful in achieving their goals.
Dr Loretta Sarpong, Head of Women’s Desk at Ecobank Ghana PLC, said the Bank was well positioned to assist women entrepreneurs in growing their businesses from one level to another.
“Once we open an account for you, we sign you unto the ‘GHQR’ which works just like mobile money; the Bank sees the inflow and outflow of cash from your business, and that guarantees collateral free/interest free loans”.
Categories for the awards include: Woman Entrepreneur Under 25 of the Year; Agri-Woman of the Year; Most Inspiring Woman Entrepreneur of the Year; Health and Well-Being Entrepreneur of the Year; Micro/Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year; Financial Service Provider of the Year; Social Entrepreneur of the Year; Photographer of the Year.
Others are Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year; Beauty Entrepreneur of the Year; Beverage Brand of the Year; Most Promising Entrepreneur of the Year; Woman Entrepreneur of the Year; Family Business of the Year, Made in Ghana Product of the Year; Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Food Entrepreneur of the Year, and Real-Estate Developer of the Year.
