Internationalisation of SMEs in Ghana in Retrospect: Towards a Corporate Strategy of Internationalisation

The aim of the conference paper is to collide the research on internationalisation of companies from a developing country, Ghana. The paper is based on more than 30 research projects conducted over the period 1996-2006. It is found that Ghanaian companies are poorly integrated into the global economy; export is irregular and on a small scale. Access to finance is difficult and the exporters overall do not perform better than domestic market oriented companies. Management issues are singled out as being a major weakness in growing a company. The lack of trust has severe effects on the internal organisation of the firm as well as the way external linkages to customers and suppliers are developed. In addition, managers are to a large extent rent seekers rather than growth oriented.