The 8th Ghana CEO Summit and Awards Expo, an event for business leaders and policymakers in Ghana, instrumental in charting a path forward for Ghana’s business and economic landscape, concluded yesterday in Accra.

The summit brought together over 500 CEOs and industry leaders to engage in high-level

dialogues and collaborative learning. This year’s theme, “Reigniting Business and Economic

Growth: Charting a Path Forward; Economic Diversification and Artificial Intelligence

Transformation. A Private-Public Sector CEO Dialogue & High Impact- Learning.”

Presidential Session

The highlight of the summit was the Presidential Session, where Vice President of Ghana, HE Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Former President, John Dramani Mahama exchanged ideas on resetting Ghana’s economic agenda, private sector development, reigniting economic growth, economic diversification, digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

President Mahama pointed to rising unemployment and inflation rates as indicators of

economic distress, while Bawumia countered with the government’s achievements in digital

transformation and infrastructural development.

This debate underscored the summit’s theme of reigniting business and economic growth, as both leaders presented their visions for Ghana’s future.

The Vice President said his government would realign government expenditure to the private

sector, emphasising that the private sector will be empowered to relieve the government of most of its burden.

He said most of the digital achievements of the current government is through the private sector. He also promised to introduce a tax amnesty that will essentially, up to a certain year, wipe out all tax obligations, and realign Ghana’s import duty regime, with a move towards flat taxes in cities on import duty.

Former President Mahama outlined macro-economic stability, providing world-class business support for foreign and local enterprises, creating jobs for Ghanaians through public-private collaboration to upskill the workforce, investing in world-class infrastructure for economic transformation, harnessing AI for Economic Transformation, open and transparent regulatory framework for business, and the 24-hour economy, as focal points of his future government.

Expert masterclasses

The summit featured a series of masterclasses, expert panels, and networking sessions that provided CEOs with actionable insights and toolkits for driving business growth. Keynote speakers highlighted the importance of adopting new technologies and embracing digital transformation to stay competitive in the global market.

Some recommendations made by the expert panels included focusing on the urgent need for economic diversification and the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI).

Leaders emphasised the importance of harnessing AI to revolutionise various industries, ensuring that its benefits are inclusive and widespread.

Some of the key speakers included Mr. Antanas Bernatonis, Founder of Why Ai Agency; Ing.

Patricia Obo-Nai, CEO of Telecel Ghana; Prof. Peter Quartey, Development Economist,

University of Ghana; Mr. Daniel Kwadwo Owusu, Country Managing Partner of Deloitte

Ghana; Mr. Darlington Akogo, Founder & CEO of Minohealth AI Labs; Mr. Vish Ashiagbor,

Country Senior Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and Mr. Stephen Blewett, CEO of

MTN Ghana. Others include Madam Abena Amoah, MD of Ghana Stock Exchange; Dr.

Emmanuel Okeleji, CEO of SeamlessHR; Mr. Moses Baiden Jnr, CEO of Margins Group;

Mr. John Boadu, Director General, SIGA; Dr. Edwin Alfred Nii Obodai Provencal, CEO,

BOST, among others.

CEO Excellence Awards

Scores of CEOs were awarded at this year’s summit for their outstanding leadership and

achievements. The category of awardee included the Lifetime Business Builder Achiever Award,

CEO of The Year, Leadership Excellence Award, and Outstanding Public Leadership Award