Mr Herman Chinery–Hesse, Co-Founder SoftTribe and BSL Africa on Thursday said, internet businesses depended on trust to survive in the telecommunication sector.

He said relationship building was one of the important ingredients in the establishment of an online business.

Mr Chinery-Hesse made this observation during a presentation titled “Managing An Online Business in Ghana: Challenges and Prospects" at the second edition of ONLINE 2012 conference in Accra.

It was on the theme: “Connecting Business with Innovative Ideas”.

The annual event is held to grow the business of technology to build a respected and strong platform for the technology industry in Ghana and Africa by bringing together all industry practitioners and stakeholders to guide and shape the future of the online industry in Africa.

Mr Chinery-Hesse said dishonesty and disloyalty were bad elements that affected the growth and development of most businesses in the world especially Africa.

He explained that one of the greatest challenges faced in business establishment was the discouragement syndrome from friends, relatives and the society, and therefore called on Small and Medium Enterprises to venture into the online business.

Mr Kwame Redeemer, Chief Executive Officer of Rack Africa, called on corporate institutions to build data backups in cases of unexpected of fire outbreaks adding that they should appreciate and value the importance of data backups, since information was essential in business growth.

Other topics discussed at the conference included software development, internet connectivity: foundation for viable online industry, the future of Ghana’s telecommunication industry to national development.**