The Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE) has called for reforms in Ghana’s telecommunications sector to make internet services more affordable and accessible to entrepreneurs.
Founding CEO of ACEYE, Emmanuel Acquah, said affordable internet access has become critical as Ghana moves from an agrarian economy towards a service-based economy, particularly with the growing importance of technology and innovation.
He said efforts to encourage technology-driven businesses would have limited impact if entrepreneurs cannot afford the internet and other digital tools needed to operate their businesses.
“If you’re encouraging innovations, you’re encouraging lots of tech businesses and all that, and people find it difficult to, first of all, access internet or access technology, and secondly, to also afford, then there is an issue.”
Mr Acquah therefore called for reforms in the telecommunications sector to help reduce the cost of internet services.
He said Ghana needs to create an environment that allows the telecommunications industry to become more accessible, which he believes would ultimately help bring down prices.
“There should be a deregulation of the telecommunication industry so that we can have more active players.”
According to him, allowing more active players into the sector would help address the high cost of telecommunications services.
“When more active players are in the game, there is always competition, and competition also breaks monopoly and breaks down prices.”
His comments form part of discussions surrounding the 2026 Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom (REF) Index, which examines the conditions under which entrepreneurs operate across Ghana’s 16 regions.
The report identifies trade freedom and fiscal freedom, among other indicators, as key areas affecting businesses. It also highlights challenges relating to tariffs, certifications, taxes, levies and fines faced by entrepreneurs.
Mr Acquah said taxation remains one of the biggest challenges confronting businesses.
“Taxation is one of the biggest challenges that entrepreneurs are confronted with daily, whether in the form of taxes in general, levies, fines at a regional or local level.”
He also called for greater decentralisation of government services, particularly those involving business certifications.
According to him, some entrepreneurs are still required to travel to Accra to obtain certificates even when relevant government institutions exist at the regional level.
To address this, ACEYE is advocating the introduction of a Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom Act, which would give regions greater autonomy to develop policies and services that respond to the needs of businesses.
Mr Acquah said the objective is to ensure that entrepreneurs across the country benefit equally from a supportive business environment.
“We want the Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom Act so that the rewards of entrepreneurship or the rules of freedom are shared evenly across all the 16 regions in Ghana.”
He said Ghana has made progress in implementing recommendations from previous editions of the REF Index, noting that about 70% of the policy recommendations from the 2024 edition were achieved.
However, he stressed that attention must now shift towards addressing the practical challenges entrepreneurs face at the regional level.
“Usually, when you talk about economics, you’re always looking at the macro stuff. But what about the micro?”
The 2026 REF Index is based on responses from 3,200 entrepreneurs across Ghana’s 16 regions, with 200 respondents selected from each region
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Mavis Fantevi
