In 2025, Kasapreko PLC recorded a turnover of GH¢3.5 billion, compared with GH¢1.03 billion for Unilever Ghana. It also surpassed Guinness Ghana and FanMilk in revenue, making it the largest listed fast-moving consumer goods company in Ghana.

Twenty-five years ago, almost nobody would have believed this was possible.

Back then, the conventional wisdom was that multinational companies would always dominate Ghana’s consumer goods industry. They had the capital, the technology, the brands, the advertising budgets and the international experience. Indigenous companies were expected to remain small, serving local markets while foreign-owned businesses occupied the commanding heights of the economy.

Kasapreko rewrote that script.

Its rise is not merely a corporate success story. It is proof that Ghanaian entrepreneurs can build companies capable of outperforming some of the world’s most recognised brands. It demonstrates that local ownership is not a handicap. It can be a strategic advantage.

This is why Ghana must deliberately pay greater attention to indigenous businesses.

Foreign investment remains essential. It brings capital, technology, skills and competition. Ghana should continue to welcome multinational companies. But we must also recognise an economic reality. Foreign-owned businesses ultimately serve the interests of shareholders abroad. Strategic decisions about expansion, procurement, production and investment are made within global corporate priorities. Factories can relocate. Production can move. Procurement can be centralised elsewhere. Profits can flow out of the country.

Indigenous businesses operate differently.

Their founders live here. Their families live here. Their wealth is tied to Ghana. Their factories are here. Their suppliers are here. Their employees are Ghanaians. When they succeed, they are far more likely to reinvest, expand production, create jobs and strengthen the local economy.

That is why every serious economy deliberately builds national champions.

Japan did not become an industrial power by relying solely on foreign companies. South Korea built Samsung, Hyundai and LG. India nurtured Tata and Reliance. China created Huawei, BYD and Haier. These countries welcomed foreign investment while simultaneously building powerful indigenous enterprises that could compete globally.

Ghana should do the same.

Kasapreko should not be viewed as a lucky exception. It should be studied as a model. The next Kasapreko may already exist in engineering, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, software, manufacturing, hospitality or renewable energy. What such businesses need is not protection from competition, but access to finance, efficient regulation, reliable infrastructure, export support and procurement systems that reward quality and innovation.

The goal is not to replace multinational companies. Ghana needs both foreign and indigenous investment. The goal is to ensure that Ghanaian-owned companies also have every opportunity to grow into continental and global champions.

Kasapreko has shown what is possible.

Twenty-five years ago, few imagined a Ghanaian company would outperform Unilever, Guinness and FanMilk in its own industry.

Today, it has.

The challenge before us is simple.

Let’s build one hundred more.