Three Ghanaian-owned companies on Wednesday emerged as winners of the Ghana National Kaizen Awards 2024 for their excellence in operational efficiency and innovation.
KAIZEN is a Japanese philosophy and methods of quality and productivity which are key for Japanese industrial development and applied techniques.
The awardees included Solution Oasis Limited, Yedent Agro Group of Companies, and Asheba Company Limited.
Solution Oasis Ltd, an agro-processing company known for producing premium natural skincare products, was named the overall winner and also received the Micro Small Enterprise Award.
Yedent Agro Group of Companies, based in Sunyani, took home the Medium Enterprise of the Year Award for its contributions to agro-processing while Asheba Company Limited, a company that specialises in the processing of shea nuts into shea butter and shea-based products, won the Large Enterprise of the Year Award.
In recognition of their achievements, the three companies will receive business development support from the Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA).
This includes connections to markets and financial resources to help them continue their growth.
Additionally, they will represent Ghana at the African Kaizen Awards, in Tunisia.
The Ghana National Kaizen Awards 2024 held in Accra on Wednesday, organised by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) was on the theme; ‘Exploring the Role and Contribution of Kaizen in Promoting Innovation and Digitalisation in SMEs.’
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of GEA, Ms Kosi Yankey Ayeh, expressed her excitement for recognising the outstanding achievements of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and also celebrating the Kaizen philosophy that has revolutionised workplaces and lives around the world.
Ms Ayeh stated that JICA in partnership with GEA introduced Kaizen to over 100 MSMEs across seven regions in the country in 2019, adding that, thousands more had been trained in the principles of Kaizen through collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works Project and the Ghana Jobs and Skills Project.
“These initiatives have laid the foundation for a new wave of Ghanaian entrepreneurship one that is committed to continuous improvement, operational excellence, and sustainable growth,” she stressed.
The Chief Representative of JICA, Ghana, Ms Suzuki Momoko, said JICA had been supporting Ghana’s MSME development for nearly two decades now by implementing “The study on Promotion of Development of Local Industries” together with Ministry of Trade and Industry.
This study, she said, also introduced Kaizen approach to the palm oil manufacturing community in Ashanti Region which helped them improved their productivity and the quality of the palm oil and exported to Germany.
“Today, more than 384 MSMEs in seven Regions which includes Ashanti, Bono, Bono East, Ahafo, Northern, Central and the Greater Accra Region have implemented KAIZEN through Ghana Enterprises agency to help improve their businesses,” she noted.
The Director of MSME Development at Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mrs Stella A. Ansah, asserted that in the current highly competitive global market, the success of businesses, especially MSMEs hinges on their ability to adapt, innovate, and continuously improve.
BY CECILIA LAGBA YADA
