Greetings from Ghana where I have been participating today in a wide variety of activities from arriving late to Mentoring Madness, to addressing an international entrepreneurship summit, to blowing the whistle to open a speed networking event.

Ghanaians have long used entrepreneurship to generate opportunity for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, most of the businesses they start stay at the micro level and in the informal economy. This fact is a response to the thicket of anti-entrepreneurial incentives embodied in the country’s regulations that represent structures for corruption and informal sector growth. For example, cumbersome and expensive procedures are involved in registering a business. It takes 33 days on average to go through business registration, compared to 13 days in industrialized nations. Not surprisingly, development assistance has focused on private sector competitiveness, macroeconomic stability and good governance.

Despite the many hurdles, entrepreneurs are making inroads in the way of entrepreneurship, addressing specific needs of the Ghanaian citizens. This trend seems to be growing, with a 2006 Gallup poll revealing that 60 percent of Ghanaians were planning to start a business in the next 12 months. Ideas and opportunity for such movement lie everywhere, and people seem eager to put energy into new ventures. For example, instead of accepting the dusty climate condition that turns everyone in Accra’s clothes red, a local entrepreneur saw this fact as an opportunity and sought guidance from IntEnt, an organization that helps aspiring entrepreneurs in Ghana. With just a few washing machines, a dryer and an ironing machine, he launched The Laundromat and began servicing individuals, hotels and companies. And instead of keeping the idea small, like so many of his neighbors, this entrepreneur now plans to buy a delivery van to expand the service.

Unfortunately, I was told repeatedly today that getting the credit necessary to develop this kind of success story is not easy in Ghana – a fact that is only getting worse in many ways. In the latest ease of doing business ranking, Ghana fell five ranks. Today, it is listed 95th among 183 economies, and 113th in terms of obtaining credit.
The good news is that young Ghanaians, who constitute over 40% of the country’s population, are eager to overcome these barriers according to Ghanian International Airlines CEO Gifty Annan-Myers who I flew to Ghana with yesterday. This spirit she discussed was evident in my visit to the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, a non-profit NGO funded by a Norwegian company based in San Francisco.  Not only were the team trying train and mentor young Africans to become future software engineers impressive, but the ideas and elevator pitches strong.  The philanthropist who created this provides a building, accommodation, food and even a stipend for budding Ghanaian entrepreneurs.  This is the best entrepreneurship “incubator” I have seen in Africa.  Watch out Chinery-Hesse!

Interest in entrepreneurship is also evident in the interest Global Entrepreneurship Week is receiving with activities this week attracting energized young people ready to unleash their ideas. At the request of President John Atta Mills, I also met with the Honorable Stephen Amoanor Kwao, MP and Minister for Employment for two hours who has now pledged institutional support for GEW Ghana in 2010.  I leave Ghana with more to come including the National Youth Entrepreneurship Summit – a two-day event filled with networking, workshops, roundtable discussion and more, all designed to encourage the growth of the entrepreneurial spirit, thinking and actions of young people throughout the country.
 Also ahead is the Make your Mark with a Tenner competition. This builds teamwork and hands-on business skills by lending micro loans of GHC10 to small teams of students, and giving them one week to generate as much fiscal and social value out of an entrepreneurial idea. One of the best things about this competition is that all profits generated are invested back into the community with the participants deciding how this should be done.

GEW in Ghana will have gathered everyone from students, to business leaders, to nonprofit leaders and government officials.
These kinds of events have the potential to take hold at the grassroots level, inspiring tomorrow’s leaders of Ghana, and putting pressure on the current government to develop more business-friendly policies and programs to foster the innovative ideas they will inevitably develop.  I look forward to seeing whether our Week here has impact for 2010 and beyond.  I think it will.

After a short stop in Nigeria, I will check back with you from South Africa in a day or so.

Jonathan Ortmans is the President of Global Entrepreneurship Week and is based in Washington D.C.