SML Ghana, Georgetown University students discusses how tech is helping plug revenue loopholes

Strategic Mobilisation Limited (SML) Ghana, a revenue assurance and audit firm, has hosted MBA students from Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, Washington D.C, USA, to seek practical exposure on how Ghanaian businesses are leveraging technology to impact lives and transform the economy.

The students, made up of different nationalities, are part of Georgetown’s Emerging Markets Network (EMN) – a student-led organisation that promotes an understanding of emerging markets within the Georgetown community, facilitates a network of globally-minded individuals, and provides the community with resources to enable them to gain promising careers and opportunities in emerging markets.

The EMN organization facilitated the international trek experience to Ghana which has taken them to other companies in other sectors of the economy. Students’ backgrounds before business school were in management consulting, tech, real estate, finance, non-profit, and healthcare.

Addressing the students, Managing Director for SML Ghana, Christian Tetteh Sottie expressed his gratitude for the recognition of the company’s work across the world adding that the visit serves as a springboard to continue to offer the best services possible in order to advance the nation.

“The use of SML Ghana as a case study by these international students is highly welcomed, and we appreciate it because what we are doing is valued both domestically and internationally. These students have traveled to visit us in order to learn about what we do and how it affects our economy, and this visit will only strengthen our resolve to keep doing what we are already doing while we look for additional ways to improve,” he said.

He said the organisation’s next goal, was to provide such added value services across other economic sectors to aid in the country’s economic transformation.

“We are in the downstream sector and in our next phase, we hope to be in the upstream sector where there is the drilling of hydrocarbons and the crude gas.  Our aim is to also move into other sectors including the mining sector,” he said.

SML Ghana’s use of technology at more than 16 petroleum depots across the country has seen a significant rise in government revenue from the sector.

 Due to its end-to-end audit technology, revenue loopholes have been blocked and the direct impact has seen more than a billion cedis accrue to the government within 10 months of operation.

The President of Georgetown’s Emerging Markets Network (EMN) and an MBA student, Esther Adusei, explained that the goal of the trek to Ghana was for students to explore diverse business models and industries in Ghana and learn about how start-ups, established companies, and small and medium enterprises are adapting their business models to meet the needs of their customers and impacting their communities.

“This year, EMN has picked Ghana as our first destination for what we plan to be an annual trek to the African continent. We will be visiting companies in Ghana in various industries to learn about how business is done in Africa. Our trek, in accordance with the goals of the McDonough School of Business, fosters a global learning experience through the understanding of the business landscape and the cultural experience of an emerging market like Ghana,” she explained.

Touching on the SML Ghana experience, she noted that SML Ghana was chosen as a case study due to the significant impact it has made in a short period of time.

The President of the Student Government at Georgetown, Luke McGinty extended gratitude to SML for the warm reception and exposure of the organization’s facilities to them.

BY TIMES REPORTER