The first edition of the African Centre for Economic Transformation’s (ACET) Business Transform program has officially begun with the first cohort of 10 Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana.
In Ghana, SMEs account for over 90 percent of all registered businesses and generate more than 90 percent of employment.
SMEs have the potential to generate close to half a million jobs every year if well supported. Unfortunately, many of these businesses do not survive long enough to create these jobs.
The ACET Business Transform (ABT) program aims to help SMEs successfully navigate the business development market to access the back and front office support they need to demonstrate their viability as companies.
As a key component of ACET’s Private Sector Development program, the ABT is set to help SMEs become investments ready, and integrate them into competitive regional and global value chains.
In delivering the welcome address at the official launch of ACET Business Transform on November 8 in Accra, the Executive Vice President of ACET, Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, highlighted the importance of private sector partnership in pushing SMEs in the continent’s transformation agenda.
“Our research shows that it takes the combined efforts of the public and private sectors to create the right policy
environment for businesses and innovation to thrive, and for growth with depth to take root. We fundamentally believe that private sector-led initiatives, anchored in sound analytics and practice, will drive Africa’s transformation agenda. That’s why we are increasing our focus on working with the private sector, especially small and medium businesses.”
Speaking to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the event, Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi further outlined her outfit’s plans for the selected SMEs in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which has come as an opportunity for African businesses to expand.
“We want to build these companies to a level where they can compete in Ghana and tap into value chains. So for example, there’s a gentleman who’s providing industrial cassava. If we can help him to develop and grow, he can sell to North and East Africa and can really take advantage of the AfCFTA. It can even set up sub factories in these countries and tap into the natural resource base to expand,” she said.
ACET Head of Private Sector Development, Charles Odoom, added that the programme is ACET’s response to the challenges in the local content SME ecosystem.
“Through technical and managerial interventions, mentorship, coaching, and direct funding, the programme will move SMEs into investment readiness and support their integration into competitive global value chains.”
The first 10 Ghanaian SMEs, who were competitively selected from more than 70 applicants by an independent panel of consultants, will benefit from the guidance of technical partners and the mentorship of well-connected business executives and global leaders.
Below is the list of the ten businesses that make up the first Business Transform cohort:
1. Big Bond Roofing Systems Limited
2. Groital Company Limited
3. Homefoods Processing and Cannery Limited
4. Maxtachem Limited
5. Melach Coconut Processing Farm
6. Nelplast Eco Ghana Limited
7. Saliscom Limited
8. Sky-3 Investment Limited
9. Skylink Agro Solutions
10. Solar Taxi Limited
The African Centre for Economic Transformation, founded in 2008, is a Pan-African economic policy institute that supports Africa’s long-term growth through transformation.