Business Eye: Smart Surveillance for Ghana SMEs

Retail theft, after-hours break-ins, and “who actually opened the shop?” disputes don’t just stress you out—they quietly drain cash. For many SMEs in Ghana, security is still treated like a sunk cost: you pay a watchman, install one camera (maybe), and hope for the best.

MTN Ghana’s new Business Eye offering is interesting because it pushes security into the same category as other SME digital tools: measurable, monitorable, and tied to operations. In the Sɛnea AI Reboa Adwumakuo Ketewa (SMEs) Wɔ Ghana series, we’ve been talking about practical technology that reduces manual work and improves control without needing a big team. Smart surveillance fits right into that story.

What MTN Ghana’s Business Eye means for SMEs

Business Eye is MTN Ghana’s enterprise surveillance solution designed to help businesses monitor premises more intelligently and consistently. Even from the limited RSS summary, the direction is clear: telcos are packaging surveillance as a managed service rather than a “buy a camera and figure it out” project.

That matters for SMEs because most security setups fail in three places:

1. No continuity: Cameras stop recording, storage fills up, passwords get lost.
2. No visibility: The owner only sees footage after something happens.
3. No workflow: There’s no process for alerts, escalation, and evidence.

When a provider like MTN wraps surveillance into an enterprise product, the implied promise is simpler setup, more reliable connectivity, and support—the stuff SMEs usually don’t have time to manage.

Surveillance is now an operations tool, not only security

If you run a pharmacy, a provisions shop, a small warehouse, a salon, or a mini-mart, you already manage operations with your phone: mobile money, supplier calls, WhatsApp orders, social media. Smart surveillance belongs on that same phone because it helps you answer operational questions fast:

• What time did staff arrive and close?
• How many customers came in during peak hours?
• Were goods received and stored correctly?
• Did anyone access the back room outside normal hours?

Security becomes only one benefit. Control and accountability become the bigger win.

Why “smart surveillance” is showing up now (and why it’s not hype)

Smart surveillance is growing because connectivity and cloud-style management make cameras easier to run, and AI-style features reduce the time it takes to find what matters. You don’t need to watch hours of video to know when something happened.

In Ghana, this timing also makes sense for two reasons:

• SMEs are increasingly distributed. Owners may live far from the shop, manage multiple branches, or travel often.
• The cost of downtime is higher. If a shop closes for a day because of a break-in or internal theft investigation, that’s lost revenue plus reputational damage.

December is a good example. End-of-year trading increases stock volume and cash movement. It’s also when “quick opportunities” attract criminals. A solution like Business Eye will naturally get attention around high-activity periods—Christmas sales, Eid trading spikes, or back-to-school seasons.

What makes surveillance “smart” in practical terms

“Smart” should mean fewer blind spots and faster decisions—not fancy buzzwords. When evaluating a surveillance solution for your SME, look for capabilities like:

• Remote viewing: Owner can check live feeds on phone.
• Motion/event alerts: Notifications when movement happens in sensitive zones.
• Searchable playback: Jump to events instead of scrubbing through hours.
• User access control: Different permissions for manager vs. owner.
• Reliable storage: Local + backup, or managed retention policies.

You don’t need all of these on day one. But if the product can’t grow with you, you’ll replace it quickly.

How Business Eye supports SME growth and efficiency

Business Eye isn’t only about catching thieves; it’s about building a business that runs well even when you’re not physically present. In SME terms, that’s growth.

1) Reduce shrinkage and “soft losses”

Shrinkage isn’t only someone breaking the lock at night. For many SMEs, the bigger losses are quiet:

• Under-ringing sales (“Give me cash, I won’t print receipt”)
• Stock disappearing in small quantities
• Supplier delivery disputes (“I delivered 10 cartons” vs “we received 8”)

A well-placed camera covering the till, stockroom entrance, and receiving area changes behavior. People act differently when processes are visible.

2) Improve staff accountability without micromanaging

Most owners don’t want to be police. You want to trust your team. But trust without verification creates tension when things go wrong.

Smart surveillance supports a healthier standard:

“We’re not watching people; we’re protecting processes.”

When there’s a complaint—missing cash, missing inventory, customer dispute—you can check facts quickly. That reduces accusations and workplace drama.

3) Speed up incident response

Time is the difference between a minor incident and a major loss. If your shop is being accessed at 2:13am, an alert that reaches you (and the right person) quickly matters.

This is where a telco-backed solution can be relevant: connectivity, device management, and support are often what break DIY setups.

4) Turn video into operational insight (light AI use)

In this series, we focus on AI that saves time for SMEs. The most practical “AI” angle in surveillance is event detection and summarization—anything that helps you find the relevant moments fast.

Even if you never call it AI, the value is clear:

• Less time reviewing footage
• Faster evidence gathering
• Clearer incident timelines

That’s operational efficiency, not entertainment.

A practical rollout plan for Ghanaian SMEs (start small, scale fast)

The best way to adopt smart surveillance is to begin with the two or three areas that settle most disputes and prevent most losses. You can expand later.

Step 1: Pick your “high-trust” zones

Start with:

1. Point of sale (till / cashier desk)
2. Stockroom entrance
3. Main entrance

If you run a small warehouse or distribution business, include:

• Dispatch bay
• Receiving area

Step 2: Define what you will actually monitor

This is where many SMEs fail. They install cameras but don’t define the rules.

Create a simple checklist:

• Opening time window (e.g., 7:30–8:15am)
• Closing time window (e.g., 7:30–8:30pm)
• Restricted access hours for stockroom
• Who gets alerts and who can export footage

When something happens, you’re not improvising.

Step 3: Set retention and evidence habits

If you can’t retrieve footage when you need it, the system is just decoration.

Operational habits that work:

• Save/export incidents the same day
• Keep a simple incident log: date, time, camera, what happened
• Review one random 10-minute clip weekly (spot-check reliability)

Step 4: Combine surveillance with other SME digital tools

Smart surveillance becomes more valuable when it’s part of a broader SME system:

• Accounting/stock apps: Video confirms delivery and stock movement.
• WhatsApp order management: Camera evidence helps handle pickup disputes.
• AI assistants for admin: Summarize incident notes, create staff memos, draft policies.

That’s the theme of Sɛnea AI Reboa Adwumakuo Ketewa (SMEs) Wɔ Ghana: small tools working together so you don’t need a big team.

Questions SMEs should ask before buying Business Eye (or any smart surveillance)

A surveillance product is only “smart” if it fits your reality: power cuts, network variability, staffing patterns, and budget. Ask these questions up front:

“How will it behave during power outages?”

• Is there backup power support (UPS recommendations)?
• Does recording resume automatically?

“Where is footage stored and for how long?”

• What’s the retention period?
• Can you increase retention during peak seasons (like December)?

“Who can access the system?”

• Can you set roles (owner vs supervisor)?
• Is there a way to revoke access instantly when staff leave?

“How fast can I retrieve footage for evidence?”

• Can you search by event/time quickly?
• Can you export clips easily for police reports or internal review?

“What’s the total monthly cost?”

Don’t focus only on camera price. Consider:

• Installation
• Data/connectivity (if required)
• Storage/retention
• Support/maintenance

Predictable monthly costs often beat random repair costs—especially for SMEs managing cash flow.

A simple example: mini-mart + stockroom disputes

Here’s a common SME scenario where smart surveillance pays for itself: stockroom discrepancies.

A mini-mart receives beverages twice a week. The owner suspects cartons are “reducing” between delivery and shelf restocking. Without evidence, it becomes accusations.

A basic setup with cameras covering:

• delivery drop-off area
• stockroom door
• aisle leading to storage

…creates a clean chain of accountability. After two weeks, you can verify:

• exact delivery time
• who moved stock into storage
• whether cartons left the stockroom after hours

Even if the issue turns out to be counting errors (not theft), you still win—because you fix the process.

Next steps: treat Business Eye as part of your AI-for-SME toolkit

Business Eye from MTN Ghana is a signal: digital transformation for SMEs in Ghana is moving beyond payments and marketing into operations and security. That’s good news. The SMEs that grow steadily are the ones that reduce uncertainty—around cash, inventory, people, and access.

If you’re considering a smart surveillance solution, start with one branch or one shop floor. Define your monitoring rules. Set alert ownership. Then expand only when the first site is stable.

If your business could “see” what happens when you’re not there, what problem would you solve first—shrinkage, staff punctuality, or customer disputes?