An SME business clinic organised by MTN Ghana in Ho drew more than 250 participants against a target of 160, forcing organisers to stretch the event space at Stevens Hotel to accommodate an audience they said reflected the depth of entrepreneurial hunger across the Volta Region.
The two-day clinic, held as part of the 2026 SME Accelerate programme, was organised in partnership with SMEGA (SME GrowAfrica) and Ephesus Business School. It is the programme’s second regional stop this year, following the programme’s formal national launch at MTN House in Accra on March 13, 2026.
Louisa Ago Anarfi, Manager for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Sales at MTN Ghana, said the turnout reinforced the rationale for the SME Accelerate initiative, which she described as a vehicle for training and empowering micro, small and medium-scale businesses across the country to offer future-ready solutions. She noted that four regions, including Ashanti and Northern, participated in the programme last year, with Volta and Eastern added to the 2026 rollout.
On the support packages available, Ms Anarfi outlined MTN’s Adwumapa initiative, which includes tailored bundles for voice, data and Short Message Service (SMS), as well as additional data packages giving entrepreneurs access to specific social media platforms for business promotion. She said subscribers on continuous plans between three and six months could also access an insurance package valued at GH¢8,000, covering ill-health and fire disasters, with a doctor-on-call service included.
Kwesi Ofori Jr, Executive Director of SMEGA, stressed the need for SMEs to restructure operations to improve human resource management, financial reporting and record-keeping. He revealed that SMEGA was working to connect promising SMEs with mentors and funding opportunities, including partnerships with organisations in the Netherlands, with the goal of helping businesses transition from micro-enterprises into globally competitive operations.
The session’s lead trainer, Daniel Nii Otokunor Sackey, Managing Consultant at Ephesus Business School, put the stakes plainly: around 74 percent of small-scale businesses in Ghana fail within a few years of starting. He said the antidote lay in continuous training, financial discipline, and deliberate adoption of technology.
Participants received practical instruction in financial record-keeping and reporting, working capital management, risk identification, cost-benefit analysis and financial decision-making techniques. Several described the programme as an eye-opener that had broadened their understanding of what building a sustainable business required.
Maame Ama Simpson, Manager for Enterprise Segment and Product Development at MTN Ghana, said the Ho clinic built on earlier SME initiatives including pop-up shops, awards and market fairs. She acknowledged that limited access to markets, finance, digital tools and advertising remained the dominant barriers for small businesses and said MTN remained committed to providing the connectivity and digital platforms needed to help entrepreneurs overcome them.
