Though it is one of the largest economies in West Africa, a variety of gaps pervade Ghana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Some of these gaps include: a lack of collaboration among actors, lack of access to relevant information, mismatches in investment size supply and demand, poor access to markets, excessive cost of physical infrastructure, and limited access to finance. Despite these challenges, the small and growing business (SGB) sector is actively driving the economy. According to Ghanaian government data, small and medium-sized businesses account for 70 percent of Ghana’s gross domestic product.
The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) conducted this entrepreneurial ecosystem snapshot to identify organizations that actively support entrepreneurs in Ghana and the kind of support they provide. These organizations include: investors, capacity development providers, business development support providers, professional service providers, government agencies, and others.
ANDE first carried out an entrepreneurial ecosystem snapshot that focused on Accra in 2017. This update expands on the work done in Ghana’s capital city to include an overview of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in ten regions in Ghana.
This snapshot shows that organizations that support entrepreneurs in Ghana primarily focus on agriculture. The top impact objective is typically capacity development. The most-used financial instrument in the ecosystem is equity and the top nonfinancial support available in Ghana is access to networks and partners.