By Stanley Senya
Accra, Sept. 10, GNA – MTN Ghana has intensified efforts to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt digital solutions, access financing and markets, and transition from survival to sustainable business growth.
The company said many SMEs had significant growth potential but continued to operate below capacity because of limited adoption of digital tools and gaps in areas such as product development and customer management.
Mr Mohammed Abubakari-Sidick, Senior Manager, SME Sales, Business Broadband and Partnerships at MTN Ghana, said this at an SME Business Clinic organised in the Greater Accra Region.
The clinic brought together more than 200 SMEs to equip them with digital and business development tools to improve their productivity and competitiveness.
He said MTN had developed a range of solutions to help SMEs address some of the challenges confronting their businesses, including internet connectivity, digital productivity, business security, and market access.
Mr Abubakari-Sidick said one of the key solutions was Yellow Business, which provided businesses with stable internet connectivity as well as tools to create websites and establish an online presence.
He said the company also offered Microsoft 365 to help SMEs improve productivity through applications such as Teams, which enabled employees to collaborate and communicate from different locations.
Mr Abubakari-Sidick said digital transformation was critical to the growth of SMEs because many businesses continued to operate using traditional methods despite the availability of technologies that could improve their operations.
“Majority of them are doing very great work. However, because they don’t adopt digital transformation as part of their business, the digital tools that I mentioned are making their businesses sluggish,” he said.
He said MTN’s objective was to help SMEs move from what he described as a “survival mode” to a growth phase through the adoption of appropriate digital tools.
Another solution, Business Eye, provides SMEs with CCTV monitoring services that enable business owners to monitor their shops remotely.
Mr Abubakari-Sidick said the system could operate using electricity or solar power and also offered cloud storage for business surveillance data.
He said the solution was particularly useful for business owners who were reluctant to leave their shops unattended because of concerns about trust and security.
Mr Abubakari-Sidick identified access to finance as another major challenge confronting SMEs and said MTN was partnering with financial institutions to improve access to credit.
He said the company’s SME Accelerate initiative was working with banks to provide financing opportunities to businesses, while its Mobile Money platform also offered loan facilities to eligible customers.
He said access to markets was another area MTN was addressing through digital platforms and networking opportunities provided under its SME initiatives.
“Once you create a website, it means you’re opening yourself up to the global market, so that you can be accessible from anywhere,” he said.
He said the SME clinics also provided opportunities for businesses from different locations to network, showcase their products, and establish new business relationships.
Mr Abubakari-Sidick said MTN had so far trained more than 1,400 SMEs through the clinics, with the Greater Accra programme expected to add more than 200 businesses to the number.
He said the Greater Accra and Northern regions were among the areas where the company expected strong participation because of the concentration and growing number of SMEs.
Mr Abubakari-Sidick said MTN had also developed a dedicated solution, Ayoba for Women, to support women-owned businesses with affordable voice and data services.
He said the package also included features such as access to medical consultations and insurance cover to support women entrepreneurs.
He said the company was committed to ensuring that women entrepreneurs had access to digital and other support services that could help them manage and grow their businesses.
Mr Richard Norgah, Co-founder and Director of the SME Ghana Awards (SMEGA), said research conducted by the organisation showed that financing was not the only major challenge facing SMEs.
He said businesses also faced challenges with product management, product packaging, and customer management.
“We have believed so far that it is financing, but doing our own research, we realised that it wasn’t financing beyond financing,” he said.
Mr Norgah said SMEGA, in collaboration with MTN Ghana, was therefore focusing on helping businesses improve their products and customer management practices.
He said SMEGA was also developing an e-commerce platform, One Africa Online, which would provide Ghanaian businesses with an opportunity to sell their products beyond the domestic market.
He urged SMEs to take advantage of programmes organised by MTN and SMEGA to acquire skills and tools that could improve their businesses.
Mr Norgah said the partnership would continue to provide training on various aspects of business development, with additional programmes planned for this year and beyond.
He encouraged SMEs to participate whenever MTN Business and SMEGA organised business clinics and related activities.
Meanwhile, Mr Abubakari-Sidick said MTN was collaborating with SMEGA and Nova Africa Business School to provide further training for selected SMEs.
He said about 90 SMEs would participate in an MBA-level programme this year, with the cost fully funded by MTN Ghana.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei