Chairman of the Apostolic Professionals Network (APN), Elder Dr. Daniel Fahene Acquaye, has urged Christian business owners to uphold integrity, meet their tax obligations and establish systems that will enable their businesses to survive beyond their founders.
He said many businesses in Ghana struggle with succession because founders fail to put structures in place to preserve their vision and ensure continuity after their departure.
Speaking at the maiden Apostolic Business Leadership Summit at the TAC Tower, Ritz Junction, in Accra, Dr. Fahene Acquaye said the event was organised to equip business owners with the knowledge and strategies needed to build sustainable enterprises.
“Most of the time, businesses don’t survive over the first generation,” he said.
He contrasted the situation in Ghana with that of other countries, where businesses often progress through multiple generations of ownership.
“In Ghana, nobody even mentions this is the first generation, because the moment the leader of the first generation dies, he dies with the vision and everything about the business, and that is what we want to avoid.”
Dr. Fahene Acquaye also called on Christian entrepreneurs to uphold ethical business practices and comply with their tax obligations, stressing that religious beliefs should be reflected in their professional conduct.
“The Bible gives us the fundamental principles of business, including even tax compliance. Tax compliance is in the Bible, that we have to be compliant. So don’t say you are a Christian and you want to go and cut corners.”
“No, it is unscriptural. Let us be compliant because that is what we are told to do.”
He further challenged Christians to ensure that their conduct in the workplace aligns with the values they profess in church, warning against practising corruption while claiming to uphold religious principles.
“We can’t be corrupt from Monday to Saturday and then be holy on Sunday in the church. That is not possible. We can’t also be holy at church and go to our workplace and then we are corrupt. That is also not good.”
Beyond individual business conduct, Dr. Fahene Acquaye urged churches and faith-based organisations to use their platforms to promote responsible citizenship, sanitation, tax compliance and business development.
“I always say that church is one of the biggest platforms that we can ever have. Church platforms are bigger than campaign platforms because every Sunday, you will get about 70% of people to be aggregated in a church.”
He said churches should complement their spiritual teachings with discussions on practical issues affecting members and the wider society.
“Therefore, when we have preached the gospel, we should also begin to talk about things that affect us, the things that we should not do, the things that we should not throw into gather, the tax obligations that we need to comply with, how we will be growing our businesses.”
The maiden Apostolic Business Leadership Summit was held under the theme, “Equipping Christian Business Leaders for a New Era,” bringing together business leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs and industry experts.
The summit featured discussions on business sustainability, productivity, cybersecurity, fraud prevention, compliance, leadership and strategies to help businesses move from survival to scale.
