A business can offer an excellent product, deliver an impressive service and have a founder who knows exactly what they are doing, yet its website may not reflect that quality. Its social media pages may be inconsistent. Its content may not communicate its value. Its brand may be difficult to find online. In some cases, there may be little digital presence at all.
This gap is one of the reasons Meraki Channels launched its Digital Competency and Capacity Building Programme, a six-month initiative designed to equip women entrepreneurs and small business owners with practical digital skills they can apply directly to their businesses.
The programme, which is being implemented in Accra in partnership with Stanbic Bank, is part of Meraki Channels’ broader commitment to digital transformation for SMEs and the development of stronger, more digitally capable businesses in Ghana.
For us, the idea was born from experience. Through years of working with entrepreneurs and brands, we have seen first-hand how different a business can look offline compared with its online presence. The experience of using a product or service may be excellent, but a visit to the brand’s social media pages or website can tell an entirely different story.
The content may not reflect the quality of the business. The brand may lack consistency across platforms. A website may exist but do little to support business growth. Good businesses can remain difficult to discover because the digital systems supporting them have not caught up with what they have to offer.
Building the digital capacity behind better businesses
The first two sessions of the Digital Competency and Capacity Building Programme, held in June and July, brought women entrepreneurs together for practical learning around the digital tools, knowledge and strategies that can strengthen their businesses.
The programme approaches digital skills and entrepreneurship as part of how modern businesses operate.
Participants are introduced to areas that can influence their online presence, visibility and day-to-day business operations, including digital marketing, content creation, social media marketing, AI for business, productivity tools and other practical aspects of digital adoption.
The emphasis is on application. The goal of digital skills training for women is not simply to introduce participants to new terminology or platforms, but to help them understand how these tools can contribute to real business growth and how much money they’re leaving on the table without these digital applications.
That is also why the programme forms part of Meraki Channels’ wider interest in digital transformation for SMEs. Digital transformation does not necessarily mean adopting complex technology. It can begin with understanding how to communicate a business online, creating better content, improving its visibility, using technology more efficiently and making informed decisions about the platforms and tools that support the business.
For women entrepreneurs in Ghana, these skills can become particularly valuable as more aspects of business discovery, communication and marketing move online.
The programme also creates room for business networking, allowing participants to learn alongside other entrepreneurs who are navigating similar challenges. This community dimension matters because entrepreneurship is not only about acquiring skills. It is also about learning from experience, sharing knowledge and building connections within the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The next session of the Digital Competency and Capacity Building Programme is scheduled for Friday, August 28, 2026, continuing the six-month series in Accra.
At its core, the initiative reflects something Meraki Channels has long believed: digital literacy should not become the reason an otherwise capable entrepreneur is unable to grow, compete or be discovered in a digital era.
As a creative media and digital growth agency, Meraki Channels works across areas including digital strategy, website development, content creation, social media, SEO and digital training. Beyond these core services, digital literacy remains close to the work we do and the kind of digital ecosystem we want to contribute to.
Hence the Digital Competency and Capacity Building Programme is therefore not an isolated training series. It forms part of a bigger picture around women empowerment, skills development and digital transformation for businesses in Ghana.
The Accra programme is one execution of that broader campaign. In the coming months, Meraki Channels plans to take a similar version of the programme to Kumasi before the end of 2026, with the possibility of extending the campaign to other regions in subsequent years.
The wider ambition is to make practical digital knowledge more accessible to entrepreneurs who may already have the talent, products and ideas needed to build successful businesses, but need stronger digital capacity to communicate, market and grow them.
The programme is being delivered in partnership with Stanbic Bank, with sessions taking place at the Stanbic Business Incubator in Accra. We also have XYZ broadcasting, Healthy Greenies and Dakope, whose involvement contributes to the wider reach and impact of the initiative.
And as the Digital Competency and Capacity Building Programme continues, the goal remains contributing to an entrepreneurial ecosystem where more businesses understand the digital tools available to them and can use those tools with greater confidence and effectively so they’re visible when potential clients are searching the internet for them.
