Accra Retreat to Ask CEOs How Their Firms Can Strengthen Ghana

Chief executives in Ghana will meet in Accra next month to consider how their organisations can play a bigger part in the country's development, at the eighth edition of the CEO Breakfast Retreat.

The event is organised by the CEO Accelerator Program. It will take place on Tuesday, 1 December 2026, at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City, Accra, and will run from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm, as first reported by Citi News.

This year's theme is "Leading at Scale: Building Enterprises That Become Cornerstones of National Development". According to the organisers, the retreat will ask leaders of private companies, state-owned firms and non-profits whether they are deliberately building enterprises that strengthen the nation.

Robert M. Bennin, Founder and Convenor of the CEO Accelerator Program and Chief Learning Strategist at TEMPLE Advisory, said business leaders tend to focus on financial results rather than on their wider impact.

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"Every CEO in Ghana already tracks revenue and profit. Very few measure what their enterprise contributes to the nation," he said.

The main feature of this year's programme is the Cornerstone Standard, a new self-assessment tool. It allows chief executives to score their organisations against eight goals that the organisers describe as critical to national development.

Mr Bennin said the tool was not meant only for large corporations. "We deliberately designed the Cornerstone Standard so that a company with few staff can become a cornerstone," he explained.

He argued that development would come from many well-run businesses that pay their taxes in full, invest in their staff, serve underserved people and avoid cutting corners. "Our ambition is to see a thousand such enterprises across Ghana," he added.

The organisers said the retreat is built around reflection and discussion rather than speeches. After breakfast, participants will take part in a Garden Walk, a set of peer advisory conversations in which executives coach each other.

A session on scaling an enterprise will be followed by one titled "Beyond Scale: Becoming a Cornerstone Enterprise", during which participants will complete the self-assessment. Each leader will then set out personal commitments. The day will end with an executive portrait session and a networking lunch.

Previous editions of the retreat have looked at adaptive capacity and recognised excellence in African hospitality and leadership. At the sixth edition, attendees wrote personal leadership manifestos, while the seventh, held most recently in Aburi, examined five pillars of holistic leadership covering areas such as health, family, ethics and wealth.

The CEO Accelerator Program was founded in 2020. According to the organisers, it takes senior executives through a nine-month programme of peer learning, coaching and accountability, with the aim of developing leaders who will steer corporate Africa towards a stronger future.

The organisers said places are limited. They are encouraging chief executives, managing directors and heads of institutions to register early.