by Dickson Worlanyo Dotse(Daily Graphic)
Speakers at a forum on innovation have warned that Ghanaian businesses risk becoming obsolete if they fail to rethink how they operate amid rapidly shifting technological and market trends.
They emphasised that innovation was no longer a specialised activity but a fundamental condition for survival, cautioning that companies slow to adapt risk fading out of an increasingly competitive business landscape.
The experts were speaking at the “Innovation Forum 2025” held in Accra.
It was organised by the Certified Innovation Professionals Association (CIPA) under the auspices of the Nobel International Business School (NiBS) on the theme: “Sustainability Through Innovation: Building Resilient Systems for Tomorrow.”
Curiosity, culture
A Lecturer at Lancaster University, Ghana, Dr Jewel Enyonam Ewoade, stressed that innovation is now mandatory for business survival in a rapidly changing landscape. She said systems must be rewired to stay relevant and sustainable.
She also described curiosity as essential, calling for a shift from spoon-fed teaching to facilitation, retraining teachers and cultivating critical, independent thinkers capable of challenging convention.
The Head of International Relations at AAMUSTED, Dr Evans Duah, described innovation as non-negotiable, citing how brands like Nokia declined for failing to adapt.
He urged proactive thinking, weak-signal detection, where innovators find opportunities others would generally miss, and mindset change.
Dr Duah enumerated cultural barriers such as fear of failure, timidity and limited resources as restricting creativity, but said overcoming them and valuing African opportunities could unlock innovation despite socio-economic constraints.
Data-backed innovation
A Fundraising and Systems Strategist, Dr Lucille Abruquah, said intuition and empathy drive innovation but must be backed by data to avoid emotional bias.
She urged risk-taking, rapid action and learning from cases like Yahoo’s missed opportunities. Understanding users deeply and combining intuition with evidence, she added, helped create solutions that are meaningful, timely and people-centred.
The Head of Al Consulting at Aya Data, Dr Gillian Hammah, stressed that innovation required self-driven learning, a problem-first approach and adapting to AI-accelerated change.
She urged surrounding oneself with supportive, forward-thinking people and abandoning self-limiting cultural mindsets.
Dr Hammah said Ghanaians were equally capable of creating global-scale solutions if they apply their knowledge, seek exposure and believe in their potential.
Mindset, Copied innovation
The President of CIPA, Dr Richard Ampofo Boadu, stressed that innovation began with mindset, describing it as the lens through which individuals interpret possibilities, challenges and opportunities.
Dr Boadu urged organisations and professionals to shift from problem-fixing to opportunity-creating mindsets, noting that sustainability is ultimately the product of evolved thinking capable of reimagining and transforming existing systems.
“Practice open-mindedness, welcome new ideas, listen without judgment and embrace perspectives different from your own. Growth begins where certainty ends,” he said.
The Founder and President of NiBS, Professor Kwaku Atuahene-Gima, explained that innovation was fundamentally about creating or adapting a product or process that solves a specific problem for a defined group—not necessarily inventing something entirely new.
“I wrote a paper called ‘Copying is Not Stealing’, and some people think I’m crazy. But every single innovation is copied. You just look at the cars and see the copying, right?
And some people will say, well, how about if we invent a totally new technology? Where did it come from? It came from nature,” he said.
Prof. Atuahene-Gima urged Ghanaians to embrace this mindset and called on practitioners to spread this understanding nationwide to drive development.
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