Winners of the 2026 SME Ghana Awards will receive business insurance, mini-MBA training, investor introductions and an Asia trade mission under a package MTN Ghana announced on 10 October.
The package is meant to turn a night of trophies into practical help for growth. MTN and the awards organiser, SME GrowAfrica, presented it at the ceremony in Accra as an answer to four problems that hold small firms back: exposure to operational risk, thin management skills, limited access to finance and few routes into foreign markets.
Star Assurance Group is providing the insurance cover. MTN did not say which Asian country the trade mission will visit, which investors are involved or when the trip will take place.
Queen GAF Enterprise, an agro-processing and cosmetics business, was named SME of the Year and also won the Agri-Business Value Addition and Market Award and the Women Entrepreneur Award. Category winners included Ahodwo Farms Limited for agri-business production, Artivity Limited for creative arts, crafts and design, DemiPearl Company Limited for food, beverage and agro-processing, Binas Prime Enterprise for retail and consumer products, Bubune Africa Limited for product innovation and Excelsa Forestry Renewables Ghana Ltd. for sustainable enterprise and environmental, social and governance practice.
The awards close MTN’s year-long SME Accelerate Programme, which ran business clinics, pitching sessions and mini-MBA classes for participating firms. MTN said at the programme’s launch earlier this year that it had reached more than 400 entrepreneurs through its training clinics and planned to take it nationwide.
The scheme has had an uneven history. SME GrowAfrica has run the awards since 2013, but they returned in 2025 after a five-year break, this time with MTN as sponsor. Last year’s top prize went to Yesli Ice.
Angela Mensah-Poku, MTN Ghana’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, said supporting small firms was central to the company’s inclusive growth agenda as it marks 30 years in Ghana. She said MTN would keep offering digital infrastructure, fintech products and enterprise support to help businesses work more efficiently.
Margaret Ansei, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency, said small and medium-sized enterprises make up about 90 per cent of businesses in Ghana and called for sustained public and private support. She told the winners their prizes carried obligations. “Trophies need to be celebrated, but they come with their responsibilities as well,” she said.
Kwesi Ofori Jr., Executive Director of SME GrowAfrica, said the organisation would keep working with the winners to secure partners and investment. He urged them to build environmental, social and governance standards into their operations so their businesses could outlast their founders.
