The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), has held the 3rd Ghana National Kaizen Awards (GNKA) 2026 to recognise enterprises that demonstrate excellence in productivity, innovation, and continuous improvement.

The awards were held under the theme, “Driving Productivity, Innovation and Competitiveness through Kaizen Excellence.”

The ceremony brought together representatives from government, UNIDO, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), development partners and the private sector.

Legal Counsel to President John Mahama, Lawyer Marietta Agyeiwaa Brew, was the Special Guest of Honour, while Japan’s Ambassador to Ghana, Hiroshi Yoshimoto, also attended.

In her welcome address, GEA Chief Executive Officer Margaret Ansei said the awards were designed to recognise businesses that have excelled in their Kaizen journey and encourage more enterprises to adopt continuous improvement.

“Kaizen reminds us that meaningful transformation comes through small, consistent improvements.”

Ms Ansei said the 2026 awards were particularly significant because they serve as Ghana’s official qualifying platform for the African Kaizen Awards.

National winners will therefore have the opportunity to showcase Ghanaian enterprise excellence at the continental level.

She also announced GEA’s plans to establish a Kaizen Centre of Excellence as a national hub for training GEA staff and MSMEs in Kaizen principles and productivity improvement.

The centre is expected to strengthen the Agency’s Business Development Services and promote continuous improvement across the MSME sector.

Delivering the keynote address, Ms Brew described Kaizen as more than a management or production methodology.

“It is a philosophy of leadership. A philosophy that teaches us that excellence is not achieved through isolated moments of brilliance, but the relentless pursuit of better ways of doing ordinary things.”

She said productivity must be treated as a national development priority as Ghana seeks to strengthen industrialisation, value addition, job creation and participation in intra-African trade.

Ms Brew commended GEA and its partners for promoting Kaizen among Ghanaian MSMEs, stressing the importance of operational excellence, quality, discipline and continuous improvement to sustainable competitiveness.

Joy Springs Fruit Company Limited emerged as the winner from the final shortlist, which included Uni-Jay Company Limited, Yedent Agro Group of Companies and Aspee Pharmaceuticals Limited.

The company was recognised for its commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.

SBP Agro Processing Limited, Daa and Sons Limited, Fairafric Ghana Limited, Praise Export Services Limited and JRV Manufacturing Company Limited were also recognised for their performance in implementing U-SPARK.

The awards highlighted their efforts to improve business processes, productivity and operational performance.

In a further boost to institutional capacity, some GEA staff were certified as Kaizen Experts.

The certification is expected to strengthen the Agency’s ability to provide productivity-improvement support and high-quality Business Development Services to MSMEs across Ghana.

GEA said it remains committed to working with UNIDO, development partners and the private sector to help more Ghanaian businesses embrace continuous improvement.

The Agency also expressed optimism that Ghana’s national representatives will perform strongly at the African Kaizen Awards in Mauritius.