Exploring the Pillars of Sustainable Development in the Context of Ghanaian SMEs

Abstract

This paper explores the pillars of sustainable development in the environmental, socio-economic, and political context of Ghana, with a basic focus on its Small and Medium-size Enterprises (SMEs). Sustainable development has developed into a common mantra within the discourse of present-day development. However, given its universal and the enormous acceptance it has acquired over the years, the term still appears vague as several gaps still exist that questions the context, meaning and insinuations of sustainable development for practice. Extensive literature was reviewed to explore the pillars of sustainable development in Ghana, one of the emerging countries in Africa. The paper recognizes and maintains that the whole question linked to sustainable development cut across generations and are fundamentally grounded on three major pillars: social, economic and environment. The study recommends that key players in the interior of the United Nations, private sector, governments, civil society organizations need to be repetitively watchful of the relationships and compromises among these pillars of sustainable development.

Keywords: SMEs, sustainable, environmental, development, political, economic, social, Ghana

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/10-14-04

Publication date:July 31^st 2020