AIDEC Holdings Ltd. (AHL), a downstream fuel retailing and petroleum haulage company, has emerged the ultimate winner – Star Award for Excellence, at the 2nd edition of the Invest in Africa (IIA) SME Excellence Awards.
Per the selection criteria for the category, contenders must have performed extremely well in all scoring criteria such as business growth rate, health and safety performance, management style, products and markets performances, operations, technologies (ICT), corporate social initiatives, as well as financial performance.
Accounting and Financing Manager and representative of AIDEC, Hector Taayele Awaana, in an interview with JoyBusiness, urged budding entrepreneurs to adhere to standards.
“AIDEC Holdings does not default in any form; whether tax, whether regulatory, NPA, Ghana Standards Authority or EPA, we do all of them and at the time that it is required.” He said.
Hector added, “Competitors should do the right thing and you will end up not competing with anybody but you will be the standard for people to compete with.”
In his remarks, Dr. Sebastian Okeke who is the Country Programme Manager at AfDB – partner of the IIA initiatives, expressed his outfit’s commitment to supporting SMEs in Africa.
He said, “We are here again today to consolidate the Africa Development Bank’s relationship with Invest in Africa which started in 2014 when the AfDB signed a one million United States dollar for Africa private sector assistance.”
In a related development, Managing Director of Tullow Ghana Ltd., Kweku Awotwi, in his Keynote Address, expressed the company’s commitment to long term development through local content participation.
“We ensure that local content has a significant input in influencing our procurement processes and we currently have 75% of our contracts on our procurement plan earmarked for indigenous companies.”
On his part, Country Director of IIA Ghana, Clarence Nartey, touted some key milestones his outfit celebrated as part of its 4th anniversary celebrations in the country.
“Last year, $150m worth of contracts were provided to Ghanaian SMEs registered on the APP, $1.2m worth of credit support provided to SMEs, 230 SMEs trained and 32,000 jobs created and sustained.” Mr. Nartey said.
The 2nd Edition of IIA SME Excellence Awards was on the theme, “Supporting SMEs – Key to accelerating inclusive growth and prosperity.”
It featured three new award categories namely, Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Mentorship Recognition and Business Technology Growth categories. In all, there are currently 9 award categories.
Other winners
Woman Entrepreneur of the Year – Georgette Barnes Ltd.
Young entrepreneur of the Year – Agriaccess Ghana Ltd.
Business Transformation Award – Ricks Logistics Ltd.
Business Linkage Award – Right Consult and General Supplies Ltd.
Business Technology & Growth Award – Consolidated Shipping Agencies Ltd.
Business Innovation of the Year Award Liranz Ltd.
Mentorship Recognition Award – Ricks Logistics Ltd.
Scale-Up Business of the Year – Right Consult and General Supplies Ltd.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS