Build trust and excellence, Esther Cobbah urges women entrepreneurs

The Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Communications Africa Ltd, Ms Esther A. N. Cobbah, has urged female entrepreneurs to make brand presence, trust and excellence central to their business strategies.

Addressing participants at the Africa Women’s Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation Programme 2026 in Accra, she said credibility, relevance and excellence were the true currencies of leadership and long-term success.

The programme, organised by the Africa Women's Leadership Academy, brought together nearly 200 women entrepreneurs, business leaders and professionals from various sectors. It was held under the theme “The Woman Founder – Brand Presence, Perception and Trust as a Skill.”

Ms Cobbah encouraged participants to undertake honest self-assessment and to understand their operating environment in order to build impactful enterprises. “You cannot determine your relevance from your perspective alone. Your enterprise must solve problems that matter to others, not just one that only excites you,” she noted.

She emphasised that brand trust is cultivated through sustained excellence and ethical conduct, including delivering on an organisation’s brand promise and ensuring consistency between internal values and external actions. She advised entrepreneurs to anticipate challenges, invest in crisis preparedness and avoid compromising their integrity.

“Your reputation is shaped not only by what you achieve, but also by how you behave in crisis situations,” she said.

On strategy and growth, Ms Cobbah cautioned against the temptation of shortcuts, urging women founders to prioritise steady expansion, strong systems and capable teams. She underscored the importance of continuous learning and leadership renewal as businesses evolve.

“As your business expands, you must renew your thinking, your skills, and your capacity to develop others,” she advised.

She further called on participants to invest deliberately in their teams, organisational culture and governance structures, arguing that strong institutions should be built to outlive their founders. According to her, true leadership is measured by the ability to establish systems that function effectively even in the absence of the founder.

Drawing on metaphors from nature and her professional experience, she likened entrepreneurship to nurturing a plant that requires patience, resilience and the right environment to develop deep roots before visible success is achieved. She reminded the audience that many enduring enterprises are the product of years of unseen effort and disciplined preparation.

Ms Cobbah also paid tribute to the late Ms Barbara Sika Baeta, founder of Flair Catering, describing her as an inspiration. She noted that Ms Baeta built a business from modest beginnings into one that catered for heads of state and royalty over several decades, while projecting Ghanaian cuisine onto the international stage through excellence and brand trust.

Ms Cobbah is an award-winning communications strategist and currently serves as President of the Institute of Public Relations Ghana. She is also President of the International Public Relations Association for 2026, becoming the first Ghanaian and one of the few Africans to lead the 70-year-old global professional body.

Organisers said the programme forms part of broader efforts to equip women founders with practical skills to strengthen leadership, innovation and sustainable growth across Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.