Eight newcomers made it into the top 20 of the 100 highly regarded firms in Ghana when the Ghana Club 100 Awards were relaunched after a two-year hiatus.
The top-ranked company was Zeepay Ghana Limited, followed by Multipro Private Limited in third, Amanex Co.Ltd. in seventh, and Express IDS Consult Agency Limited in eighth.
Other competitors in the top 20 include Nestle Ghana Limited, which is ranked 13th, Sage Distribution Limited, which is ranked 16th, Abosso Goldfields Limited, which is ranked 19th, and Benso Oil Palm Plantation Plc, which is ranked 20th.
In all, there were 43 newcomers on this year’s list of awardees who missed out on the 18th edition of the awards.
Companies whose ranking improved from previous edition included GBC Plc and Maphlix Trust Ghana Limited who both respectively moved from 16th to 10th and 27th to 6th position this year.
On the Other hand, Scancom Plc moved from the top position in previous edition to occupy the 5th position this year while GOIL Plc moved from 3rd position to 61st position in the 19th edition of the awards.
This year’s awards which was hosted by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) to promote good corporate governance and work ethics was held under the theme, “Ghana’s Private Sector, A Catalyst for Post-Pandemic Economic Transformation.”
Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Presidential Advisor, who spoke on behalf of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as a Special Guest of Honour, commended the private sector for thriving amid economic hardship induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
“It is important to recognise the difficulties our economy is facing. The depreciating cedi, the surging inflation, high interest rate and increasing utility tariff are taking a toll on businesses.
“Government is not oblivious of your challenges and is working hard to stem the tides of these macro-economic difficulties, ” he said.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said the private sector remained the biggest stakeholder and catalyst in turning around the fortunes of the country and for that matter the Government was focused on rebuilding the economy on the back of the private sector.
Mr Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of GIPC said through initiatives such as the GIPC’s countrywide Regional Sensitization Tour (RST), organised with support from the World Bank, the Centre was reaching out to private businesses to capture investment opportunities across various sectors in the country.
“The private sector, the most important contributor to GDP and employment in the Ghanaian economy, has been resilient and indeed is the engine of Ghana’s post pandemic recovery.
“It behooves on us all, to accelerate that recovery with the innovations and the interventions that have been implemented thus far, ” he said.
Companies under the Club 100 Awards are divided into 13 categories across broad sectors of agriculture, industry, and services economy.
Those who applied to be ranked for the awards undergo an eligibility analysis, which required a company to be a limited liability company, privately owned with government interest not less than 50 percent or must be listed on the stock exchange market.
The company must also have a cumulative operating profit and should be tax compliant.
Qualified entities are then ranked based on size and profitability, growth, and Corporate Social Responsibility.