The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has reaffirmed her Ministry’s commitment to collaborating with the private sector to strengthen the growth and competitiveness of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Ghana.
She gave this assurance when a delegation from MTN Ghana paid a courtesy call on her at the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry in Accra on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.
The visit brought together the government and one of Ghana’s largest telecommunications companies to explore how their respective resources and mandates could combine to support the country’s MSME sector, a segment widely regarded as central to job creation and broader economic growth.
The MTN Ghana delegation was led by the company’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, Ms. Adwoa Wiafe. Her presence at the meeting signaled the seriousness with which MTN Ghana approached the discussion, given her role overseeing the company’s broader sustainability and corporate engagement initiatives.
Discussions between the two sides centered on opportunities for collaboration to support the development of MSMEs, promote entrepreneurship, and explore other areas of mutual interest aimed at driving economic growth.
The conversation reflected a shared interest in finding practical ways for a major private sector player to complement government efforts already underway in the enterprise development space.
Leveraging Corporate Expertise for MSME Development
The meeting also explored initiatives that would leverage MTN Ghana’s expertise and corporate social investment programmes to complement government’s efforts to strengthen the MSME sector.
This approach suggests that any resulting partnership would draw on MTN Ghana’s existing corporate social responsibility infrastructure rather than requiring an entirely new framework built from scratch.
By tapping into programmes the telecommunications company already runs, the Ministry appears keen to accelerate impact rather than wait for new initiatives to be designed and launched independently.
This kind of collaboration often allows government agencies to reach entrepreneurs more quickly, using channels and networks the private partner has already established.
Minister Welcomes MTN’s Willingness to Partner
Responding to the proposals presented during the meeting, Hon. Ofosu-Adjare expressed appreciation to MTN Ghana for the visit and for the company’s willingness to partner with the Ministry to advance Ghana’s industrialization and enterprise development agenda.
Her response framed the meeting not merely as a courtesy call but as a genuine opening for structured collaboration moving forward. She indicated that the Ministry would identify priority areas where collaboration would have the greatest impact, particularly in supporting small businesses to become more competitive and sustainable.
This suggests that rather than pursuing a broad, unfocused partnership, the Ministry intends to target specific interventions likely to produce measurable improvements for MSMEs across the country.
Ghana Enterprises Agency to Play Central Role
Hon. Ofosu-Adjare further highlighted the importance of working closely with the Ghana Enterprises Agency to expand opportunities for entrepreneurs through skills development, start-up support, and seed funding to enable MSMEs to grow and create jobs.
Her reference to the Agency positions it as a key implementation partner in whatever collaboration eventually emerges from these discussions with MTN Ghana.
This emphasis on skills development, start-up support, and seed funding outlines a fairly comprehensive approach to enterprise growth, addressing not just financial constraints that many small businesses face but also the training and early stage support that often determines whether a new venture survives its first few years.
Minister Expresses Optimism for Broader Impact
Hon. Ofosu-Adjare closed her remarks by expressing optimism that stronger collaboration between the Ministry and MTN Ghana would contribute significantly to empowering entrepreneurs, fostering innovation, and accelerating private sector led economic development in the country.
Her comments framed the potential partnership as part of a larger national push toward industrialization, rather than an isolated corporate social responsibility gesture.
This framing aligns the MTN discussions with the government’s broader economic priorities, positioning private sector partnerships as a meaningful complement to public policy rather than a substitute for it.
With both sides having laid out their respective interests and priorities, attention now turns to how quickly the Ministry can identify the specific collaboration areas Hon. Ofosu-Adjare referenced during the meeting.
Should the partnership move from courtesy visit to formal agreement, MSMEs across Ghana could gain access to combined resources from both a government ministry and a major telecommunications company, potentially strengthening the kind of skills training, start-up support, and seed funding that small business owners often struggle to secure on their own.
The meeting thus represents an early but notable step toward a partnership that could shape how Ghana’s enterprise development efforts unfold in the months ahead.
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