Across the African continent, businesses face more than just market risks, they operate within environments shaped by layered security threats, social tensions, infrastructural gaps, and deep-seated trust deficits. While the continent holds enormous potential, many enterprises underestimate how operational disruptions and sociocultural dynamics can quietly erode business value. The absence of structured responses to issues like cybercrime, labor unrest, or youth unemployment doesn’t just slow growth, it undermines sustainability.
As companies expand into African markets or seek to scale across regions, two critical questions must be asked: Is the business resilient enough to withstand unexpected shocks? And is it deeply connected enough to the communities it serves to thrive within them?
These are the questions guiding the latest episodes of the Doing Business in Africa, where Sompa & Partners continues his deep dive into the Sompa National Risk Dimensional Report, this time focusing on security, operational, and human capital risks in Ghana.
Security Is Not Just a Crisis Issue
“Security is not just about crisis management,” Sompa & Partners explains. “It’s about the safety, integrity, and resilience of your business, your people, your data, and your daily operations.”
Even in relatively stable markets like Ghana, things are shifting. Urban crime is on the rise. Cyber fraud is becoming more sophisticated. And regional instability, especially near the Sahel and conflict-prone zones like Bawku, is something businesses must actively factor into their planning.
That means thinking ahead. Businesses are encouraged to set up information security programs, introduce multi-factor authentication, and train employees on digital hygiene. But resilience goes beyond cyber defense. For companies in areas with unreliable electricity or prone to market disruptions, alternative energy sources and continuity plans are increasingly essential.
“We’ve seen labor strikes already in the first quarter,” Sompa & Partners noted. “These things aren’t isolated. As a business, you need flexible models, emergency staffing, backup systems, and clear protocols for when things go off script.”
Risk Also Lives in Relationships
But risk is not only structural. It’s also social. And that, Sompa & Partners says, is where many companies stumble.
Africa’s youth bulge, with growing numbers of young people entering the workforce, presents a major opportunity, but only if education and employment can be aligned. Right now, a wide skills mismatch persists. Most economies are still largely informal, limiting productivity and long-term planning.
Then there’s trust. “The business environment here tends to be low-trust,”. “Which means relationships often matter more than systems. People work with who they know, not just who’s cheapest or most compliant.”
In Ghana and beyond, localised ethnic tensions and chieftaincy disputes add another layer of complexity. In such an environment, businesses must listen carefully, build local partnerships, and remain socially aware. Simply ticking regulatory boxes is not enough.
Building with Communities, Not Just in Them
So how can businesses navigate all this?
According to Sompa & Partners, businesses should consciously invest in people. Work with schools and vocational institutions to shape the skills you need. Support youth leadership and reskilling. And above all, formalise your employment relationships, even if you operate in an informal sector.
“It’s also about regional inclusion,” he adds. “Let’s not focus development only in urban spaces. Spread investments. Create employment across regions.”
And finally, transparency. In a low-trust setting, being open about your values and operations isn’t just good PR, it’s good business. Sompa & Partners recommend integrating trust-building into your brand and community work, especially through CSR programs.
A New Kind of Strategy for a New Kind of Risk
What’s clear from Sompa & Partners’ reflections is that businesses in Africa must start thinking differently. Success will not just come from ambition, it will come from adaptation.
Operational risk is no longer a future worry. It’s here, now. But so is the potential for a new kind of business: one that is secure, responsive, socially aware, and rooted in its community.
“We’re not just here to point out the risks, we’re here to help you ride the storm, and build better in the process,” says Sompa & Partners.
