Fidelity Bank Calls For Stronger Trade Support

Fidelity Bank Ghana has urged for enhanced collaboration among stakeholders, unified trade frameworks, and specialized institutional backing to surmount structural impediments hindering the expansion of Ghanaian merchants and business owners, especially women. This plea came from two senior executives of the bank during the Breaking Barriers to Trade conference, where they engaged in discussions on modernizing trade and supporting women-led enterprises.

Director of Banking Operations, Aaron Ameyaw, in his address on "Reimagining Trade, Influence and Institutional Legacy," highlighted poor data accuracy and disjointed customs procedures as significant hurdles to trade expansion in Ghana and the broader region. He emphasized that while artificial intelligence (AI) holds substantial potential to revolutionize trade and commerce, its efficacy hinges on the availability of accurate data.

"In Ghana, data is a problem. These AI machine learners thrive on data. And so if your data is not correct, you have big issues," he stressed. Ameyaw advocated for greater alignment of customs regulations among neighboring nations, noting that traders, particularly women importing goods from countries such as Togo and Nigeria, are still grappling with cumbersome bureaucratic procedures that inflate costs and delay transactions.

He expressed optimism over the rollout of the Publican AI System in early 2026, which is set to augment the Integrated Customs Management System at the country's ports, projecting that the technology could contribute to a revenue surge exceeding US$300 million. Fidelity Bank is also applying technology internally, incorporating robotic process automation to refine reconciliation procedures, thereby boosting efficiency and enabling staff to concentrate on higher-priority tasks.

"It is imperative that we get the basics right. Once we get it right, it creates opportunities," he asserted. Director of SME Banking, Alex Agyei-Amponsah, addressed the hurdles faced by women-led enterprises, stating that between 38 and 46 percent of businesses in the region are owned by women. He noted that the primary challenge does not stem from a lack of ambition but rather the difficulty of reconciling business growth with family obligations and other commitments.

Agyei-Amponsah elaborated on Fidelity Bank's efforts to mitigate this issue through the Fidelity Young Entrepreneurs Fund, which is designed for young entrepreneurs and women, offering financial assistance from the initial idea phase through incubation to market preparedness. The program provides financing at preferential rates and assistance to help entrepreneurs fulfill regulatory and compliance criteria that might otherwise impede their market entry.

He also spotlighted the bank's collective lending model, citing a woman entrepreneur who successfully secured a yam export contract to Canada via the Federation of Associations of Ghana Exporters. The group arrangement empowered her to engage in the contract despite her inability to do so independently.