BTA Admin MTN Ghana has challenged small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to translate business management training into stronger operations, job creation and sustainable growth, stressing that the real value of entrepreneurship programmes lies in their impact on businesses.
Angela Mensah-Poku, MTN Ghana’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, made the call at the graduation ceremony for participants in the MTN NOVA Business School Mini MBA programme.
She said SME support initiatives should be judged not only by the technology and services provided to entrepreneurs but also by the improvements businesses achieve after receiving support.
According to her, SMEs must strengthen their ability to respond to changing customer expectations, growing competition, digital disruption and economic pressures.
“At MTN, we believe that when SMEs succeed, communities succeed, industries thrive and economies become stronger. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of economic activity,” she said.
Ms Mensah-Poku urged graduates to apply what they had learnt, share their knowledge with employees, create jobs and mentor other entrepreneurs.
She described graduation as the beginning of a new phase in which participants must turn classroom lessons into practical business results.
MTN Expands Business Training Through SME Accelerate
The 13-week Mini MBA programme forms part of MTN Ghana’s year-long SME Accelerate initiative, which combines management training, digital solutions and post-training support to help businesses improve their operations.
Mohamed Abubakar Siddiq, MTN Ghana’s Senior Manager for SME Sales, Business Partnership and Fibre Broadband, said the programme was developed to address management gaps identified through the company’s SME clinics.
While the clinics provide initial business assessments and guidance, the Mini MBA offers more extensive training in areas such as strategic financing, bookkeeping, business sustainability and digitalisation.
MTN Ghana organised six SME clinics in 2026, using the sessions to assess businesses and identify entrepreneurs who could benefit from additional support.
The Mini MBA was organised in collaboration with NOVA Business School Africa and was open to the general public, with particular attention given to entrepreneurs who had participated in the clinics.
MTN to Monitor Graduates After Training
MTN Ghana says it will work with its partners to monitor participants after graduation to determine whether they are applying the skills acquired during the programme.
Mr Siddiq said NOVA Business School Africa would follow up with Mini MBA participants, while SMEGA would support monitoring for businesses that took part in the SME clinics.
The company intends to continue the Mini MBA annually, with the 2026 graduation marking the completion of this year’s SME Accelerate programme.
The post-training monitoring is intended to help ensure that the programme delivers practical improvements rather than leaving participants with knowledge they do not apply.
SinceShea Founder Shares Lessons From the Programme
Nana Abenaa Oforiwa Kwao-Adotey, founder of SinceShea, a beauty and personal care brand that produces eco-friendly products using shea butter, black soap and essential oils, said the training had changed how she approaches financial management, digital marketing and team building.
She explained that the programme helped her recognise weaknesses in her bookkeeping and use of digital tools to measure business performance.
“Coming on board, I thought I was doing the best, but I wasn’t seeing results in terms of my numbers and also my statistics. But coming on board, I realised that there was so much I wasn’t doing,” she said.
Ms Kwao-Adotey said she had learnt that accurate financial records were essential for understanding business performance and making informed decisions.
“I have learnt to keep the right records because if I don’t know my numbers, then obviously I cannot tell where my business is going to,” she added.
As part of her 90-day business improvement plan, she has begun developing a comprehensive catalogue for her WhatsApp business page and working to optimise her website.
She also said the training had influenced her approach to recruitment, reinforcing the need to select employees based on their skills and competencies rather than personal relationships.
“I’m working out of this programme better than I came on board, and my business has already started seeing growth in the right areas,” she said.
