Edith Adjei taught herself to sell fugu cloths and northern smocks while working as a Human Resource Manager for the government. Today her brand, Unyqbiz Fabrics, sells across northern Ghana and reaches customers in Cape Coast, Kumasi and Accra. She posts carefully staged photos on Facebook and WhatsApp, replies to messages at odd hours and sends parcels by trusted bus lines and local riders. Her phone serves as both ledger and storefront.
Edith’s story reflects a broader economic transformation unfolding across Ghana. Small manufacturers, seamstresses and market traders increasingly use social media platforms to reach buyers beyond their towns. This digital shift represents more than individual success stories; it illustrates how micro enterprises are harnessing social media and mobile finance to reshape commerce while navigating thin margins, logistics challenges and formalization hurdles.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), commonly known as businesses operating on smaller scale than large corporations with limited employees and capital, form the backbone of Ghana’s economy. They contribute approximately 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and represent roughly 92 percent of registered businesses. These enterprises drive employment, innovation and local production.
Former Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam emphasized the sector’s importance, stating that supporting SMEs is crucial to achieving growth and development ambitions. He urged stakeholders to be intentional about providing access to financial resources, expertise and capacity building programmes that empower them to drive innovation, create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
Internet penetration has surged in Ghana, and social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp and TikTok have become virtual marketplaces. Small makers in towns such as Tamale and Wa can now showcase products nationally. Edith reflects this shift, explaining that TikTok and Facebook work best for her business. When she runs ads on Facebook, her messages flood with people asking prices and wanting to buy. Even if only a few actually purchase, she feels happy because it means people are seeing her work. Her decision to shift into online selling allowed her to transcend geography and tap new customer bases.
Success extends beyond visibility. Mobile money has become essential for remote commerce. Ghana’s mobile money transaction values reached a record GH¢3.02 trillion in 2024, marking approximately 58 percent growth year on year. For Edith, almost all customers pay with mobile money, saving her the stress of daily bank visits. Once they confirm payment, she prepares the order and sends it. Sometimes she even receives international orders, with payments processed through people in Ghana using mobile money. The system has made things considerably easier.
Social media and mobile payments provide front end and transaction support, helping SMEs find new pathways into the formal economy and expanded markets. However, the road remains riddled with obstacles. Logistics constitutes the top operational cost and risk factor for small online led businesses. Parcel transport, last mile delivery, return handling and infrastructure deficits combine to erode margins.
Edith explains the financial reality. STC charges about 35 to 40 cedis per parcel, while riders also take around 40 cedis for delivery. If she passes all costs to customers, they might stop buying. Sometimes she absorbs part of the expense, reducing profit but keeping customers. Delivery represents one of the biggest challenges. When a parcel gets delayed or wrongly ordered, she must replace it herself. It’s painful, but that’s part of doing business, she says.
This combination of growing opportunity alongside persistent cost and risk defines the SME terrain in 2025. Policy analysts note that while digital channels have lowered some barriers, many micro enterprises remain trapped in informal operations without full access to formal finance, credit or regulatory benefits. A recent policy brief found that inadequate working capital practices, slow customer payments and inventory mismanagement reduce SME profitability by approximately 26 percent, underscoring the fragility of many operations.
Female entrepreneurship adds another critical dimension. Ghana ranks among the highest globally for female business ownership rate at 46.4 percent according to the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs. However, women led firms tend to remain micro level and informal, face greater credit constraints and struggle to scale into manufacturing or exportable operations. Social commerce opportunities, where craft, design and online engagement converge, offer a powerful entry point for women to convert traditional skills into revenue.
Edith expresses the lived reality candidly. Sometimes the home is calling, sometimes the business. Being a mother, a worker and still running a business isn’t easy. There are nights she packages orders while her children sleep. But when a customer sends a photo wearing her smock and says they love it, she feels proud. That’s what keeps her going.
For Ghanaian SME policy, the message carries urgency. With SMEs expected to drive non oil GDP growth in coming years, focus must shift from rhetoric to infrastructure. This includes lowering delivery costs, improving logistics networks, integrating mobile platforms with trade facilitation and streamlining formalization for micro operators. Training in financial literacy, inventory management and digital commerce represents frontline action. The government’s new SME Growth and Opportunity Programme seeks to address these gaps by mobilizing financing and capacity building for small firms.
Edith Adjei began with just a few weavers and some fabric. She advises women not to wait until they have plenty before starting. Start with what you have, she says. Her business may still grapple with shipping costs and occasional delivery mishaps, but from northern Ghana, she participates in a dynamic fabric of commerce now woven into the national economy. In her own words, Made in Ghana means her pride, her identity, what she is made of. She feels proud to be Ghanaian and believes we must tell the world we can do it on our own.
Social media led commerce in Ghana sits at the intersection of craft, digital platforms, mobile finance and logistics. It leverages the deep economic bedrock of SMEs that contribute seven in every ten cedis of Ghana’s GDP. If Ghana is to accelerate inclusive growth, export creativity and reduce unemployment, micro businesses turning phones into storefronts will need fuller backing. With stronger logistics, smarter payments, clearer formalization and targeted support for women operators, the Made in Ghana, sold online model holds potential to become a national engine of economic opportunity rather than merely a side hustle.