Scancom Ghana Limited, operators of MTN mobile phone service, has been adjudged the Number One Company in the country, the second time in as many years, at the Ghana Club (GC) 100 Awards.
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre’s (GIPC’s) ranking of the top 100 companies in the country also saw the oil production company, Kosmos Energy Ghana, being named the second largest company, with the state-owned downstream oil retail company, the Ghana Oil Company (GOIL), being ranked the third largest based on size, growth and profitability.
Before the companies are ranked, they must first show that they comply with the laws of the land, the evidence of which are three-year audited financial statements, business registration certificates, tax clearance certificates and clearance certificates from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) as evidence that they fulfill their mandatory obligation of contributing to secure the future of their employees.
Scancom Ltd also won the topmost award last year. Prior to 2017, it had won the award a number of times before it stopped entering for the competition.
The company resumed entering the coveted awards when the criteria for the ranking were enhanced to make the awards more competitive.
Other winners
The fourth to 10th largest companies are Sunon Asogli Power Plant Ltd, IT Consortium, ASA Savings and Loans, Total Petroleum Ghana Ltd, Goldfields Ghana Ltd, Olam Ghana Ltd and Agro ECOM Ghana Ltd.
All the 100 companies were presented with mementos and certificates of recognition at the awards night in Accra last Saturday which was on the theme: “Sustainable agriculture: The bedrock of Ghana’s industrialisation drive”.
Companies that make it into the GC100 are to serve as role models for the private sector and provide a forum for Corporate Ghana to interact with the government at the highest level.
Commitment
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who attended the event, in the company of the visiting Barbados Prime Minister, Ms Mia Amor Mottley, reassured the business community that his administration was committed to supporting the sector to flourish to impact the rest of the economy.
“We want to do whatever we can to make sure that the private sector in our country flourishes and develops Ghana. So count on the support of this government for whatever that you are doing,” he stated.
He said it was the belief of every member of his government that they needed to do everything they could to support the business community, as any help offered the industry to succeed would ultimately lead to the overall development of the country.
President Akufo-Addo conceded that as humans, government officials were susceptible to mistakes and so “we want to have a dialogue that allows you to point out to us where we should go”.
He added that the heart and the mind of the government were clear that progress of the private sector would lead to the development of the country.
Recognition
The Chief Executive Officer of the GIPC, Mr Yoofi Grant, said the awards also recognised companies in many sectors of the economy, ranging from information and communications technology (ICT), oil and gas, mining, services, financial services, manufacturing to agriculture, with new entrants emerging every time.
He said over the years, the awards had built a reputation as the official and credible corporate branding institution in Ghana, having the official seal of approval from both the public and the private sectors.
Touching on the theme, Mr Grant said agriculture had always played a major role in Ghana’s economy, employing about 50 per cent of the working population and contributing largely to its export earnings.
He said the sector was also a major source of inputs for the manufacturing sector and added that it grew by 4.8 per cent in 2018 and generated $591 million worth of exports.
He said the government continued to roll out initiatives designed to modernise the sector, improve output and provide a stable and sustainable raw material base for agro-processing and urged the private sector to venture into the agricultural sector too.
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