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140 individuals who participated in the first iteration of the MTN Ghana Foundation’s Enterprise Support Program have successfully finished their training, marking a noteworthy accomplishment for MSMEs in Ghana. Additionally, each of the 140 MSME owners got a financial injection of up to 10,000 cedis.
Following the training, the MTN Ghana Foundation contributed GHS1 million to help their companies. Participants were also registered on the MTN Momo Market, an online marketplace that provides beneficiary companies with the chance to display their goods in front of more than 20 million consumers.
The Enterprise initiative intends to help 500 MSMEs in Ghana over the next five years, with a focus on youth, women, and MSMEs managed by people with disabilities. The demands of the recipients found during the first needs assessment were taken into consideration while designing the training courses.
Bookkeeping, Business Model Innovation, Financing your Business, Business Cost and Pricing, Design Thinking, Branding, Sales and Marketing, Business Management, Financial Literacy, Digital Marketing, and Customer Service were among what was covered in the training for the recipients. Beyond merely imparting technical information, the program included an experience approach, peer-to-peer teaching and learning, and networking opportunities to support business growth and sustainability.
Commenting on the project, the Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Ghana, Adwoa Wiafe, said, “We are pleased with the impact that this program has had on the livelihoods of the beneficiaries in the first year of this five-year program . We will continue to improve its implementation and monitoring in the second year to enhance its impact on the beneficiaries and their businesses. .”
“The program is MTN Foundation’s way of helping to address a significant challenge faced by micro and small-scale enterprises in the country – access to capital. In providing this much needed support we are complementing the government’s efforts to build a sustainable livelihood for business owners from low income communities,” she added.
Speaking about the project, one of the beneficiaries said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the training. I learned about the benefits of proper branding, customer experience, marketing, communication, and branding which I will apply to improve the way I do business.”
Another beneficiary, who is a person living with a disability, said, “I liked everything about the training. The trainer taught us in Twi, so we understood it well. We can now manage our businesses, maintain our customers, and attract new ones.”
The MTN Enterprise Support Program is a legacy project of MTN Ghana and was established in celebration of its 25th Anniversary in 2021. The initiative was launched in 2023 and is being implemented in partnership with the Innohub Foundation. The second year of the project will be launched in April 2024, where another group of MSMEs from three regions will be invited to submit applications. The shortlisted MSMEs will be given the opportunity to pitch for the grant, and the successful beneficiaries will be selected for onboarding for the 2024 edition.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
