President John Dramani Mahama has urged Ghanaian entrepreneurs to build businesses that can survive beyond their founders, describing succession planning as critical to the long-term sustainability of indigenous enterprises. 

President Mahama said the collapse or decline of many Ghanaian-owned businesses after their founders retired or died remained a challenge to the development of a strong local private sector. 

He made this known during a visit to Kasapreko Limited as part of a tour of selected companies, including Nestle Ghana Limited, Three Dreamers Manufacturing, and Kasapreko Limited, where he commended the company for its growth, expansion and increasing presence in international markets. 

He cited Kasapreko Company Limited as a model of a Ghanaian enterprise that had successfully positioned itself for continuity, despite the retirement of its founder. 

He said the company’s ability to transition leadership to the next generation while continuing to expand its operations demonstrated the importance of building institutions rather than businesses that depended solely on their founders. 

“Kasapreko is also a model for Ghanaian enterprise. Often, when the founder of a business either retires or passes away, the business collapses,” he said. 

President Mahama congratulated Kasapreko Company Limited on its successful listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange, saying the company’s experience demonstrated that listing did not necessarily mean losing control of a business. 

He noted that Kasapreko had raised GHS 700 million through the listing, which was being invested in the company’s new factory at Adiamso, and expressed confidence that the expansion would lead to the establishment of more factories and create additional employment opportunities for Ghana’s youth. 

He said it gladdens his heart when he visits factories like that, stressing that “This is what it’s all about: creating jobs for our young people.” 

President Mahama urged Ghanaian business owners to deliberately create structures and systems that would enable their enterprises to remain productive and competitive after the founders had exited, saying that such continuity was important if Ghana was to develop strong indigenous companies capable of creating jobs, generating wealth and contributing significantly to national development.  

He said Kasapreko’s transformation from a relatively small Ghanaian business when he first visited the company 11 years ago to an enterprise operating multiple production lines demonstrated the potential of local businesses when given the opportunity to grow. 

He noted that the company had expanded its production from line three at the time of his previous visit to line eight, with products serving both the domestic and international markets. 

President Mahama also encouraged Ghanaian businesses to take advantage of what he described as an improving economic environment to expand production, with investors saying that foreign direct investment (FDI) had increased from $624 million in 2024 to $2.62 billion in 2025, explaining that the development reflected growing confidence in the Ghanaian economy. 

“If foreigners have confidence in our economy and they are coming and investing, then it means that Ghanaians should also take the opportunity and invest,” he said. 

The president attributed the improved investment environment to fiscal discipline, efforts to stabilise the economy and measures to create space for the private sector, stating that interest rates had fallen significantly, citing a case in which someone informed him that he had recently obtained financing at nine per cent, compared with rates of about 32 per cent previously. 

He said the improved economic conditions provided an opportunity for businesses to expand their operations, increase production, and create employment, particularly for young people. 

The President linked the development of indigenous industries to the government’s 24-hour economy initiative, which seeks to increase production, promote industrialisation and create jobs through additional shifts and expanded economic activity. 

President Mahama said the growth of companies such as Kasapreko showed that Ghanaian businesses could compete globally when they invested in production, innovation, effective management, and long-term institutional development.