The Africa Center for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE), a policy think tank, has issued a call for significant reforms in the entrepreneurial ecosystem following the release of its 2024 Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom Index report.

The report, highlights the Savannah Region as a moderately free and relatively supportive environment for business and entrepreneurial activities.

The Chief Executive of ACEYE, Emmanuel Acquah, emphasized the need for reform in government’s flagship small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) programs to better support business growth and development.

The 2024 report, which examined regional disparities and ways to enhance entrepreneurial freedom, used 14 indicators to assess the level of freedom across all 16 regions. These indicators included aspects such as trade, labor, regulation, financial, and market freedom.

Mr. Acquah also underscored the need for deliberate and strategic changes within the entrepreneurial ecosystem to enable businesses to operate more freely.

“When we are asking for real reforms, we are saying that instead of looking out for personal interest, there has to be a holistic approach on issues of entrepreneurship. We have been doing the cash transfer programmes for years, the same projects are rebranded by politicians but what has been the impact of these”.

“We need to assess the impact of these programmes as against the problems they have created. If we are embarking on this projects and we are not seeing real growth and prosperity level is on a decline, then clearly there is something fundamentally wrong”, he said.

He specifically advocated for the centralization of regulatory bodies to streamline and improve the registration processes for small businesses, which he believes will reduce bureaucratic hurdles and foster a more business-friendly environment.

The report identified the Savanna Region as standing out with its relatively conducive environment for economic growth, highlighting its moderate level of entrepreneurial freedom compared to other regions.

ACEYE's call for reform is part of a broader effort to address regional disparities and enhance overall entrepreneurial freedom across the continent. The organization’s recommendations aim to create a more supportive framework for businesses, enabling them to thrive and contribute more effectively to economic development.