Growth opportunity exists amid economic crisis: Businesses told
Speakers at the 2022 Stanford Seed Transformation Network Ghana Chapter’s Business and Leadership conference have called on businesses to see the economic crisis in the country as an opportunity to grow.
They said businesses should be able to learn from their mistakes and also stay the course of their original visions.
Advertisement
The speakers were the Executive Chairman of AB & David Law, a business law firm, David Ofosu-Dorte; a former Managing Director of Stanbic Bank, Naa Alhassan Andani; and the President of the Stanford Seed Transformation Network, Ghana, Linda Yaa Ampah.
The conference
Last Tuesday’s multi-stakeholder conference, the fifth in the series, was dubbed: “Growth opportunities within the crisis”.
It was attended by executives and thought leaders across industries to discuss building resilient businesses by identifying opportunities during periods of economic crisis.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the network has used the conference to share knowledge and expertise on how members and the general business community can leverage the challenges presented by crises to identify opportunities to grow their business.
The conference was part of the network’s strategy to connect members with industry experts and their peers in order to help them to gain knowledge that will help them to stay ahead in today’s business environment.
Legal framework
Naa Andani encouraged participants to pay attention to crisis situations, and to work to evolve their businesses, taking into account the legal and regulatory framework.
“Businesses need to refine their strategies in light of changes in their markets,” he said
Other Trending Stories
Mr Ofosu-Dorte urged businesses to stay true to their vision and mandate during times of crisis.
“It is easy for business leaders and entrepreneurs to abandon the core vision and mandate of their business in their bid to survive crisis situations. The courage to stay true to your vision during crisis defines your business,” he stated.
Resilience
Mrs Ampah, who is also the Founder of Cadling Fashions and KAD Manufacturing Limited, commended members of the network for their resilience and ability to create and innovate in order to keep their businesses afloat during the time of economic uncertainty.
“The Ghanaian business environment has become very challenging. There is the generally high cost of doing business due to the continuous depreciation of the cedi, the rising cost of food and imports, a high debt burden, high inflation, high interest rates and the rising cost of energy. These factors are expected to reduce growth in the short term due to the current global recession," she said.
She said the private sector could help the economy to grow if the government offered it the right conditions.
Background
The Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies is a Stanford Graduate School of Business-led initiative that is working to end the cycle of global poverty.
Ghanaian alumni of Stanford Seed constitute the Seed Transformation Network, Ghana.
Over 100 Ghanaian entrepreneurs have so far benefited from the training.