From Green Practices to Green Growth: Green Entrepreneurship, Resource Efficiency, and Sustainable Economic Performance among SMEs in Sunyani East and Sunyani West, Bono Region, Ghana

Small and medium companies (SMEs) are at the heart of Ghana’s shift to greener, more resilient economic development. But the transition to greener methods of conducting business is also happening against a background of more immediate problems such as growing energy and material prices, availability of capital, and challenges around waste management. This research studied green entrepreneurship, resource efficiency and sustainable economic performance of 384 SMEs in Sunyani East and Sunyani West in the Bono Region of Ghana. The research used a quantitative cross-sectional survey approach to quantify green entrepreneurship via eight observable business activities. Overall, the results suggest that the level of green entrepreneurship activities among the assessed SMEs was modest with an average adoption rate of 45.74%. The most often reported practice was energy-efficiency measures, mentioned by 66.9 % of the organizations, followed by waste-reduction initiatives (61.7%). Meanwhile, the lowest was the adoption of renewable energy at 23.2%. Moreover, the data indicated a substantial positive association between green entrepreneurship and resource efficiency (r = .717, p < .001). Green entrepreneurship was also substantially connected with greater sustainable economic performance (r = .558, p < 0.001). Further insight into this link was offered by mediation analysis. Resource efficiency exhibited a significant indirect impact of 0.0088, 95% CI [0.0062, 0.0117], partial mediation. This implies that green entrepreneurship may enhance the economic performance of SMEs directly and indirectly by enabling enterprises to utilize energy, water, raw materials, and other resources more effectively. Still, many SMEs still struggle with implementing greener practices. The main constraints highlighted were limited access to funding and high initial costs for investments in green technology.
The results indicate that it is insufficient to promote corporate social responsibility alone for the promotion of SME-led green growth in Ghana. We need to make green investment financially feasible for SMEs by providing them with inexpensive green finance, suitable technologies, and practical resource-efficiency support.

green entrepreneurship, sustainable economic performance, SMEs, green growth, resource efficiency, Bono Region, Ghana

1. Dean, T. J., & McMullen, J. S. (2007). Toward a theory of sustainable entrepreneurship: Reducing environmental degradation through entrepreneurial action. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(1), 50–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2005.09.003 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ghana Statistical Service. (2015). Integrated business establishment survey: National employment report. Ghana Statistical Service. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Ghana Statistical Service. (2021). 2021 population and housing census: General report. Ghana Statistical Service. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Hart, S. L. (1995). A natural-resource-based view of the firm. Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 986–1014. https://doi.org/10.2307/258963 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Hockerts, K., & Wüstenhagen, R. (2010). Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids: Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(5), 481–492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2009.07.005 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. International Energy Agency. (2023). Energy efficiency 2023. IEA. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. International Labour Organization. (2019). Small matters: Global evidence on the contribution to employment by the self-employed, micro-enterprises and SMEs. International Labour Office. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. International Labour Organization. (2022). Greening enterprises: Transforming processes and workplaces. International Labour Office. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Kraus, S., Burtscher, J., Vallaster, C., & Angerer, M. (2018). Sustainable entrepreneurship orientation: A reflection on status-quo research on factors facilitating responsible managerial practices. Sustainability, 10(2), 444. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020444 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation. (2013). Ghana national climate change policy. Government of Ghana. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation. (2020). National plastics management policy. Government of Ghana. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, & Environmental Protection Agency. (2021). Ghana's updated nationally determined contribution to the UNFCCC (2020–2030). Government of Ghana. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). OECD SME and entrepreneurship outlook 2023. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/342b8564-en [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Porter, M. E., & van der Linde, C. (1995). Green and competitive: Ending the stalemate. Harvard Business Review, 73(5), 120–134. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Porter, M. E., & van der Linde, C. (1995). Toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(4), 97–118. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.9.4.97 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Republic of Ghana. (2020). Ghana Enterprises Agency Act, 2020 (Act 1043). Ghana Publishing Company Limited. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Schaltegger, S. (2002). A framework for ecopreneurship: Leading bioneers and environmental managers to ecopreneurship. Greener Management International, 38, 45–58. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Schaltegger, S., & Wagner, M. (2011). Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: Categories and interactions. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20(4), 222–237. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.682 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Shepherd, D. A., & Patzelt, H. (2011). The new field of sustainable entrepreneurship: Studying entrepreneurial action linking “what is to be sustained” with “what is to be developed.” Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(1), 137–163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00426.x [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. United Nations. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). Global resources outlook 2024: Bend the trend—Pathways to a liveable planet as resource use spikes. International Resource Panel, United Nations Environment Programme. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. United Nations Industrial Development Organization. (2021). Industrial development report 2022: The future of industrialization in a post-pandemic world. UNIDO. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. World Bank. (2020). Doing business 2020: Comparing business regulations in 190 economies. World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1440-2 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. World Bank. (2022). Ghana country climate and development report. World Bank. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. World Bank. (2023). Ghana economic update: Price surge—Unraveling inflation's toll on poverty and food security. World Bank. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. World Bank. (2024). World development report 2024: The middle-income trap. World Bank. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our common future. Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. York, J. G., & Venkataraman, S. (2010). The entrepreneur–environment nexus: Uncertainty, innovation, and allocation. Journal of Business Venturing, 25(5), 449–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2009.07.007 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Impact of Foreign Direct Investment in India
• Issues Involved in Digitalisation Special Reference to Indian Tourism Growth
• Relationship Marketing and Customer Loyalty in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) Industry in Nairobi County
• Financial Literacy or Financial Inclusion? Which is Which, What is What—To Achieve Uganda’s 10-Fold Economic Growth By 2040
• Harnessing Natural Gas for Economic Transformation: Overcoming the Regulatory and Infrastructural Bottlenecks in Nigeria