In Ghana, 92% of all registered businesses are classified as Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which significantly contribute to the country's economy and employment. Many of them have great products, skills, and ambition, but often struggle with visibility, access to markets, and the ability to connect to reliable business support. The MSME Digital Gateway is being introduced to help address these gaps by making business information, services, and opportunities easier to access in one place. 

As part of efforts to support this shift, Business Advisory Centre officers from across the country have taken part in a two-day Digital Champions Training Programme under the Leveraging Digital Ecosystems for Increased MSME Productivity Joint Programme. The initiative is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), with support from the Joint SDG Fund by the European Union.  

The training forms part of the MSME Digital Gateway initiative, which is being implemented by UNDP in partnership with the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), with the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (GI-KACE) serving as the technical partner. The initiative seeks to strengthen the capacity of Business Advisory Centre officers to support MSMEs in accessing digital tools, business information, financing opportunities, and markets through the Gateway platform.  

Speaking during the training, Dr. Edward Ampratwum, Head of Transformative Governance at UNDP Ghana, emphasized the importance of people in driving digital change: 

“As frontline advisors within the Business Advisory Centres, digital transformation succeeds when people are empowered to drive it. That is why Digital Champions are central to helping MSMEs access and benefit from digital tools and platforms”