Why The Government of Ghana Needs A Business Innovation Program

The Business Innovation Program represents a range of effective ways in which The Government of Ghana can accelerate innovation.

The intention of this recommendation by Goodman AMC is to help create a coherent package of support activity with clear routes, enabling businesses in Ghana to move more rapidly towards marketable products and services. Our vision at Goodman AMC is to continue to be innovative in developing and integrating our programs in response to business needs in Ghana.

The Business Innovation Program

The main aim of a Business Innovation Program will be to work with public and private industries in Ghana to develop and implement innovative strategies for key sectors to help maximize new business opportunities and growth in manufacturing, agro-processing and services and to also enable these key sectors to be able to compete with the international market.

The Business Innovation Program if implemented by the Government of Ghana or any other organization in Africa will have the sole purpose to help accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation. It will be focused on providing new and innovative solutions to enhance the ways both public and private sector businesses operate.

Globalization brings both opportunities and challenges. To share in global growth, Ghana has to compete effectively and this will depend on how the country is able to develop rapid technological innovative ideas, effective strategic management of knowledge, and create a clear focus on higher value-added goods, services and industries.

The Business Innovation Program will help tackle the barriers to innovation by working across business, academia and government, striving to create a more effective innovation environment, reducing risk and promoting collaboration, knowledge exchange and open innovation.

It will build strategic partnerships with key organizations such as the research councils as well as connect and create engagement between people and organizations in Ghana which might not normally work together, and act as a catalyst to enable developments that otherwise would not take place in key government agencies.

Why Ghana Needs a Business Innovation Program

Most public and private sector businesses in Ghana lack the creative ability to develop innovation driven ideas that will enable them to be able to tap into available business opportunities and current trends in doing business in Ghana. This makes it difficult for them to compete on the international market.

THE OBJECTIVES OF A PROGRAM LIKE THIS WILL BE TO:

• Develop and implement strategies for key public and private sectors to maximize new business opportunities and growth in manufacturing, agro-processing and services.
•  Accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.
• Enable Ghana to be a global leader in business innovation and a magnet for innovative businesses which can apply technology rapidly, effectively and sustainably to create wealth and enhance quality of life.
• Make Ghana one of the fastest countries in the world to start up a new business, and one of the easiest countries to set up a small business.

How the Program Will Operate

Turning Government Actions and Policies into Business Opportunity

The actions of all agencies and departments under the government can change markets and create opportunities for innovative businesses.

The Business Innovation Program will work with Government Ministries in Ghana to identify areas where policy, standards, and regulation can stimulate business innovation, creating innovation platforms as appropriate.

The Program will aim to help unlock the potential of the Government Ministries and Agencies to act as an ‘intelligent lead customer’, engaging with business to seek innovative solutions to public sector challenges.

By understanding their policies and innovation objectives, and adding the perspective of technology and business capability, this program will be able to form strong partnerships and work together to define specific program activities. This combination of resources can result in the leverage and alignment of significant public sector funding to create greater momentum for innovation.

Working with Departments and Agencies under The Ministry

This program will aim to work strategically with all government departments and agencies. It will be tasked to identify and develop innovative ideas and carry out actions that will make the operation of all these agencies and departments easier and flexible for sustainable Ghanaian business growth.

As the program works to help join these departments and agencies, it will also be important to communicate effectively how these organizations complement each other.

More widely, the Program will use communication strategically to ensure that it works effectively with these bodies to reach the businesses that can contribute most to innovation and growth, listen to their perspectives and needs, and communicate the outcomes of the projects supported and their economic and societal impact.

Partners in Innovation

The Program will also work alongside private sector organizations which invest in and promote business innovation. This will create partnerships and make new alliances, that can bring together business, policymakers, regulators and research thereby creating a business environment that enables rapid innovation.

Partnerships with businesses, from the largest to the smallest, will be at the heart of this Program. The program will listen and support business needs, mostly businesses which deliver a wide range of innovation. It will engage directly through the Idea Development Partners.

Idea Development Partners will help the program target and stimulate business innovation by drawing on the expertise of Ghanaian research institutions.

Innovate Ghana Campaign

The Program will develop a communications initiative that will be focused on encouraging mostly individuals to be innovative and be able to discover market and business opportunities.

This will enable them to build an internationally competitive skill base and promote more opportunities for individuals in realizing their potential. It will also boost enterprise and make this the decade of the entrepreneur, and rebalance the economy across sectors and across regions.