AI Strategic Planning Lessons SMEs Can Learn from VALCO

A board doesn’t call a “maiden strategic meeting” unless something serious is on the table: performance, accountability, and direction. That’s what the Volta Aluminum Company Limited (VALCO) signaled when its Governing Board—led by Horace Nii Ayi Ankrah—sat down with management to engage on key operational, administrative, and strategic priorities.

If you run an SME in Ghana, you may not have a governing board, but you do have the same problem VALCO is trying to solve: how to make decisions that improve performance without losing control of costs, cashflow, and day-to-day execution. The difference is that many SMEs try to handle it in their heads, in WhatsApp threads, and in half-updated Excel files.

Here’s the stance I’ll take: strategy isn’t a “big company thing.” It’s a survival tool. And in 2026, the fastest way for SMEs to build “board-level clarity” is to combine simple governance habits with practical AI tools for planning, performance tracking, and admin.

What VALCO’s board-management meeting really tells us

VALCO’s engagement meeting matters for one reason: it highlights the discipline of structured leadership—a deliberate rhythm where leaders and operators align on what’s happening, what’s broken, and what’s next.

For SMEs, the equivalent isn’t copying corporate bureaucracy. It’s adopting three principles:

1. Decisions belong in a system, not in memory.
2. Operations, admin, and strategy must be discussed together (because cash, people, and production are connected).
3. Performance improves when expectations are written, measured, and reviewed.

Snippet-worthy truth: A business that can’t measure execution can’t reliably improve execution.

A strategic meeting (like VALCO’s) usually forces clarity on things many SMEs postpone:

• Which products/services are profitable after all costs?
• What’s causing delays—people, suppliers, equipment, approvals?
• Where is money leaking—waste, errors, stock issues, bad follow-ups?
• What decisions are stuck because no one owns them?

The goal isn’t to hold more meetings. It’s to create a repeatable way to run the business.

SMEs don’t need a board—SMEs need board habits

The core advantage of a board is not status. It’s oversight and structure. You can replicate that with lightweight routines.

The “mini-board” approach for Ghanaian SMEs

Answer first: Set a fixed cadence for strategic review, even if it’s just two people.

Try this format:

• Weekly (30–45 mins): operations scorecard (sales, cash collected, orders delivered, stock issues)
• Monthly (60–90 mins): admin + finance review (expenses, payroll, taxes, debtors, supplier obligations)
• Quarterly (2–3 hours): strategy session (pricing, new channels, hiring, equipment, expansion)

If you’re a founder, invite:

• your operations lead (or most senior staff)
• your accountant/bookkeeper (even part-time)
• a trusted external adviser (optional, but valuable)

Keep it simple: one agenda, one note, one list of decisions, one list of owners.

What most SMEs get wrong about “strategy”

Answer first: They treat strategy as vision talk, not operational choices.

Real strategy shows up as decisions like:

• “We will stop selling Product A because margins are too thin.”
• “We will only offer delivery in zones we can serve profitably.”
• “We will shift from cash sales to partial prepayment on custom jobs.”
• “We will hire one customer service person because follow-ups are failing.”

VALCO’s board meeting is a reminder: strategy is operational discipline with a direction.

How AI supports strategic operational planning (without fancy systems)

AI for SMEs in Ghana works best when it’s used to strengthen routine management: planning, tracking, reporting, and follow-up. You don’t need an enterprise platform to start. You need clear inputs and a consistent workflow.

1) Turn scattered data into a weekly performance dashboard

Answer first: AI helps you summarize performance fast—if you standardize what you capture.

Common SME reality:

• sales numbers are in MoMo statements + POS + notebooks
• expenses are in receipts + personal wallets
• customer orders are in WhatsApp

Start by choosing a simple capture method (Google Sheets, Excel, or a basic accounting tool). Then use AI to produce:

• weekly sales summary by product/service
• top 10 customers by revenue and by outstanding balance
• expenses grouped into categories (fuel, rent, inputs, data, salaries)
• delivery performance (on-time vs delayed)

Practical workflow:

1. One person updates the sheet every Friday.
2. AI generates a one-page summary: “what happened, why, what to do next.”
3. You review it in your weekly meeting.

Snippet-worthy truth: AI doesn’t fix messy operations; it makes messy operations visible faster.

2) Use AI to tighten administrative efficiency (where SMEs bleed time)

Answer first: Admin waste is one of the easiest profits you’ll ever find.

Here are high-impact admin tasks AI can help with immediately:

• drafting invoices and receipts consistently
• generating payment reminders (polite, firm, timed)
• creating SOPs for ordering, stock-taking, and customer complaints
• summarizing meeting notes into action lists
• building staff checklists for opening/closing procedures

If you’ve ever spent a Sunday night rewriting the same invoice text or chasing the same debtor again, you already know the cost.

3) Improve decision-making with “scenario planning”

Answer first: AI can help you test decisions before you spend money.

Example: A small manufacturer in Kumasi is considering buying a new machine. AI can help you model:

• the monthly cost of financing (or cash purchase impact)
• expected output increase
• break-even point (how many units you must sell to cover the machine)
• sensitivity analysis (what if demand drops by 20%?)

This doesn’t require perfect data. It requires reasonable assumptions, written down, and reviewed.

A board like VALCO’s will ask these questions. SMEs should, too.

Board-management collaboration: what it looks like inside a small business

VALCO’s meeting signals alignment—board and management facing the same direction. For SMEs, the equivalent is making sure your team isn’t operating on guesswork.

Make accountability visible (without turning into a police station)

Answer first: Assign owners to outcomes, not just tasks.

Instead of:

• “Follow up customers.”

Use:

• “Ama owns collections for invoices older than 14 days; target: reduce outstanding balances by GHS 8,000 by month-end.”

This is where AI helps: you can generate a weekly list of overdue invoices, segment customers by risk, and draft reminder messages.

Use a “single source of truth” for decisions

Answer first: Write decisions down in one place and revisit them.

A simple decision log includes:

• decision made
• reason
• owner
• deadline
• metric to confirm it worked

Many SMEs fail here because decisions live in conversation. Then two weeks later, everyone remembers it differently.

A practical 30-day AI-and-strategy starter plan for Ghanaian SMEs

Answer first: Start small, build rhythm, and only automate after you standardize.

Week 1: Set up your operating numbers

• Define 6–10 metrics you’ll track weekly (sales, cash collected, debtors, stock-outs, on-time delivery, refunds/returns, etc.).
• Create one spreadsheet or template.
• Decide who updates it and when.

Week 2: Build your meeting rhythm

• Schedule a weekly 45-minute review.
• Use the same agenda every time: numbers → blockers → decisions.
• Ask AI to produce a summary note and action list after the meeting.

Week 3: Fix one operational bottleneck

Pick one:

• stock control
• late deliveries
• inconsistent pricing
• slow customer response

Write an SOP (one page). Use AI to help draft it, then adjust it to your reality.

Week 4: Run one strategy decision end-to-end

Examples:

• adjust pricing for a low-margin product
• introduce deposits for custom work
• renegotiate supplier terms
• stop a service line that drains time

Use AI to model scenarios and draft customer communication.

Snippet-worthy truth: If you can’t run one decision from plan → execution → measurement, your strategy isn’t real yet.

“People also ask” (SME strategy + AI in Ghana)

Can a small business in Ghana use AI without hiring an IT person?

Yes. The simplest wins come from AI-assisted reporting, document drafting, and process checklists. Start with your existing tools and standardize inputs.

What’s the fastest area for AI to save costs in an SME?

Administrative time and errors: invoices, reminders, customer responses, meeting notes, and basic reporting. These reduce delays, improve collections, and cut rework.

How do you avoid AI giving wrong advice?

Treat AI as a junior analyst. You provide the numbers and context, and you verify outputs. If your data is inconsistent, fix the data first.

Where this fits in the “Sɛnea AI Reboa Adwumadie ne Dwumadie Wɔ Ghana” series

This post sits at the heart of the series: AI doesn’t replace management—it strengthens it. VALCO’s board meeting is a public example of what strong organizations prioritize: operational clarity, administrative order, and strategic direction.

For Ghanaian SMEs, the play is straightforward: build “board habits” (cadence, metrics, decision logs) and use AI to reduce admin load and improve visibility.

If you want leads, growth, and less stress, don’t start by buying more tools. Start by tightening how decisions get made—and use AI to keep the rhythm going.

Where could your business improve fastest right now: cash collection, stock control, or customer follow-up?