AyaHQ CEO Calls for Coordinated Innovation Policy to Harness Ghana’s Entrepreneurial Potential
Ghana must adopt a deliberate, systems-based approach to innovation if it is to translate its growing entrepreneurial energy into meaningful economic transformation, according to Eric Annan, Founder and Chief Executive of AyaHQ, a Pan-African digital asset and blockchain innovation hub.
Speaking at a public-private sector roundtable on blockchain technology and digital assets, Mr Annan called for deeper alignment between government policy, capital investment, and grassroots innovation. The event, organised by AyaHQ under the theme “Unlocking Ghana’s Innovation Economy: Bridging Government, Industry and Startups for Inclusive Growth”, brought together policymakers, technologists, and regulators to discuss the country’s digital future.
“Ghana’s most powerful resource is its people,” Mr Annan said. “We are already seeing young Ghanaians across the country building startups without permission, solving local challenges in agriculture, logistics, and fintech—often without formal support. What they need now are intentional systems that match their courage with capital, their curiosity with opportunity, and their ideas with institutional backing.”
He noted that while Ghana had laid important groundwork by cultivating a culture of entrepreneurship and digital literacy, the absence of coherent and supportive innovation policies remained a barrier to scale.
“What if our leading traders were equipped with basic digital skills to market their products globally?” he asked. “What if policy frameworks enabled the emergence of 100 more AyaHQs? This is not just about inspiration—it is about execution, scale, and systems.”
Mr Annan called for the establishment of “Special Innovation Zones” with enabling regulations and co-investment funds to nurture digital startups in areas such as climate tech, decentralised identity, and AI. He also proposed stronger collaboration between government ministries and innovation hubs to run national incubation programmes and channel local investment into export-ready Ghanaian ventures.
The remarks come at a time of increasing regulatory focus on Ghana’s digital ecosystem. The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Zakari Mumuni, who also addressed the event, highlighted ongoing efforts by the central bank to strengthen oversight of emerging technologies while promoting financial inclusion. These include regulatory sandboxes, open banking frameworks, and a forthcoming digital assets policy framework.
Representing the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, Emmanuel Ofori, Director of Innovation, reinforced the call for cross-sector collaboration.
“Innovation cannot be driven by the public sector alone,” Mr Ofori said. “We need academia, civil society, private sector players and development partners to co-create solutions and infrastructure that serve Ghana’s economic goals.”
He pointed to the Ghana Research and Development Initiative, which is being expanded through public-private partnerships to provide coworking spaces and mentorship for early-stage startups. However, he cautioned against fragmentation within the ecosystem, which he said hampers the visibility and investment-readiness of local innovators.
“Startups, hubs, and support organisations working in silos diminish both their quality and scale. Consortiums and collaborative alliances will be key to improving Ghana’s competitiveness in the global innovation economy,” Mr Ofori said.
Ghana has in recent years positioned itself as a digital payments and fintech leader in West Africa. However, stakeholders at the roundtable stressed that unlocking the next phase of growth will require more than entrepreneurial spirit—it will require coherent policy design, institutional backing, and capital allocation aligned with national innovation objectives.
