MTN Ghana, in collaboration with SME Grow Africa, has organised a two-day training workshop for about 250 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Volta Region to build their capacity.

The workshop, which was on the theme: ‘Setting up Your Business for Growth’, forms part of MTN’s deliberate business promotion strategy to revive and strengthen SMEs to contribute meaningfully to national growth.

The participants were educated on sound modern business practices to promote the economic development of the country.

Addressing the SME operators, the Managing Director of Ephesus Business School in Accra, Nii Otokunor Sackey, commended MTN Ghana for the strategic training programme for SME operators, which he stressed would sustain businesses in the country.

Nii Sackey, who is also a lead trainer, said 74 per cent of SME businesses were likely to collapse within the next five years and 82 per cent of SMEs would fail due to insufficient generation of revenue to sustain such businesses in the country.

He explained that many Ghanaian business owners lacked personal and financial discipline and did not have basic skills in record keeping, which affected their activities and eventually led to the collapse or failure of their businesses.

The Manager of Enterprises Segment and Product Development (ESPD) of MTN, Ms Maame Ama Simpson, said MTN had focused on the training of SME owners since they were identified as the engine of economic growth of the country. Efforts were being made by her organisation to develop their skills to enable them to perform creditably.

She stressed that “SME owners lacked skills in basic record keeping, packaging of products, and other modern marketing practices,” and the training programme was designed to equip them with record keeping, packaging, financial management, and digital marketing skills relevant to the growth of their businesses.

The Executive Director of SME Grow Africa, Mr Kweku Ofori, said efforts were being made to create a common platform that would connect Ghanaian businesses to other parts of the world, enabling traders to share ideas that would facilitate growth.