Research Report: The Ghanaian Ecosystem of Tech Startups and SMEs.

What is the current state of the startup and Ghanaian ecosystems, the main challenges they face and what opportunities are there to support startups and SMEs to drive socio-economic progress in Ghana?

What is the current state of the startup and Ghanaian ecosystems, the main challenges they face and what opportunities are there to support startups and SMEs to drive socio-economic progress in Ghana?

Ghana has been identified as one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with the potential to do much more with its stable political economy, young, dynamic population, growing digital adoption and bankability of its population.

These factors have also influenced the growth of technology startups and SMEs in the country who have grand ambitions to achieve greater scale and impact.

The most recent research on The Ghanaian Ecosystem of Tech Startups and SMEs investigates what all participants in Ghana’s economic and technological ecosystem can do to fully realize Ghana’s ecosystem, which will have a direct bearing on the expansion of tech startups and SMEs.

The past three years, though challenging in many ways due to COVID 19, have witnessed exponential growth in startup activity, while the SME space in Ghana remains relatively underdeveloped. Both startups and SMEs are not yet close to creating the level of economic transformation witnessed in upper-middle (UMIC) and high-income countries (HIC) and desired in low-income (LIC) and lower-middle-income countries (LMIC).

  1. What is the current state of the startup and SME ecosystems in Ghana?
  2. What are the main challenges they face?
  3. What opportunities are there to support startups and SMEs to drive socio-economic progress in Ghana?

About MEST

MEST is an Africa-wide technology entrepreneur training program, internal seed fund, and network of hubs offering incubation for technology startups in Africa. For young aspiring and established African entrepreneurs, MEST Africa provides the skills, mindset, and experiences to build a globally successful tech company. Beyond tech and entrepreneurial skills training, MEST Africa provides a real-world advantage to entrepreneurs through funding, business incubation, and access to a global tech network.

Over the last 13 years, the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School for Technology (MEST) has supported young people and ventures in technology in Ghana and beyond. In 2020, in partnership with the
Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works in Ghana program, MEST started three new programs to scale its impact: Pre-MEST, MEST Express, and MEST Scale. In this report, we summarise the
outcomes of the research that served as the evidence-based design of the programs.

Categories
Africa StartupsAfrican EntrepreneursGhanaGhana StartupsMobile TechnologyMobile Technology StartupsTechnology

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