The government is highlighting the need to improve customer experience as part of efforts to drive national development.
It believes a strong customer-focused culture will help make Ghana the preferred destination for trade and investment under the African Continental Free Trade Area and also boost tourism.
Minister of State for Special Initiatives, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, made the remark on behalf of the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, at the 5th Annual CXP Ghana Conference and CXX Awards.
“When an investor arrives at Kotoka [International Airport], when an entrepreneur registers a business, when a trader clears goods at the ports, or when a tourist checks into a Ghana hotel, their experience becomes our national brand.
“Those of you coming from marketing, you know what it means by branding and positioning. If we can ensure that every touchpoint in Ghana tells a story of professionalism, warmth, and efficiency, then we will have transformed brand Ghana into the preferred destination for trade, investment and tourism under AfCTA. That is why customer experience must move beyond private sector into public sector transformation, national image building and international competitiveness,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Development Company (GTDC), Professor Kobby Mensah, while acknowledging the role of regulatory bodies in promoting best practices in a sideline media engagement at the event observed that regulation and compliance frameworks may shape expectations around service delivery, but they are not enough to guarantee quality customer experience.
“We can put certain regulatory frameworks in place but you cannot literally enforce people to behave in a way that they have to behave because of the way society is. We are in a democratic state. But you can put systems in place to ensure the compliances will make people conform to the kind of service qualities that we are looking for. But if people choose not to do, the capacity is in the hands of the company to say that you don’t fit my outfit anymore and we have to discharge you for somebody else to come,” Professor Kobby Mensah remarked.
Founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Ghana Association, Esther Dokuwaa Ofosuhene, on her part said companies must stop treating customer service as a reactive function and instead embed customer experience into core business strategy.
“”We always think customer experience is smiling and saying, ‘I’m sorry, and all of that. Really, it is not. It is intentional, it is strategic. You need to sit down and design it for the type of customer you are looking to bring in,” she explained.
Esther Dokuwaa Ofosuhene further noted that companies that get customer experience right are the ones customers will keep coming back to
“If they design it well, and the journey is right, they will get customers who will be very pleased at the end of the day, and so they will keep coming back. They will not spend so much money on campaigns because customers will do word-of-mouth marketing for free. You increase your market share, profitability, and revenue while reducing your risks, risks of complaints, losing customers, and even regulatory sanctions” she stressed.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of First National Bank, Sylvia Inkoom, has urged businesses to adopt more inclusive policies that address the diverse needs of customers to broaden their customer base and strengthen brand loyalty.
“It is important for businesses to do that because I think by marginalizing or by not looking at those segments, we are missing opportunities and businesses. Thankfully technology has come,” she added.
*2025 Ghana CXX Awards Winner List:*
1. CX Lifetime Achievement Award- Rt. Rev. Mrs. Patricia Sappor, Immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana
2. CX Rising Star of the Year Award – Makafui Afi Asante Amponsah, Absa
3. Contact Center Leader of the Year Award – Karen Malm, Ecobank
4. CX Practitioner of the Year Award (Banking)- Comfort Armoo, Fidelity Bank
5. CX Practitioner of the Year Award (Hospitality)- Darius Mikaelson Koranteng Oteng-Kumi, Kozo Hospitality
6. CX Practitioner of the Year Award (Insurance) – Kelvin Atiapah Coronation Insurance
7. CX Practitioner of the Year Award (Public Sector)- Patience Amoabeng, DVLA
8. CX Practitioner of the Year Award (Telecom)- Magnita Oparebea Kokofu, Telecel Ghana