Vice-President calls for expanded financing, market access for women entrepreneurs
Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the Vice-President, has called for expanded access to affordable financing, business development support and market opportunities to strengthen women-owned businesses and accelerate Ghana’s economic transformation. She said women entrepreneurs played a critical role in expanding production, promoting value addition, developing agro-processing and driving…
Ghana's Vice-President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, has advocated for increased access to affordable financing, business development support and market opportunities to bolster women-owned enterprises and spur the nation's economic growth. Women entrepreneurs are vital contributors to production, value addition, agro-processing, and industrial expansion, highlighting their central role in Ghana's economic transformation.
Addressing the inaugural session of the Fifth Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit (GWES 2026), Prof Opoku-Agyemang underscored that the country's economic progress hinges on enhancing domestic production, refining locally sourced raw materials, and fostering stronger ties between local businesses and larger industries. She urged all stakeholders to empower women entrepreneurs, enabling them to transition from small-scale operations to commercial production, manufacturing, and industrial supply chains.
The Vice-President introduced the proposed Ghana Women’s Development Bank as a vital initiative to tackle financing gaps faced by women entrepreneurs and enhance their access to affordable financial services. However, she stressed that finance alone cannot drive transformation, emphasizing the need for complementary support in skills development, quality standards, packaging, safety compliance, and market access.
Such comprehensive assistance would help women-led businesses meet the demands of major buyers, supermarkets, and export markets, ultimately fostering job creation and driving industrial growth. Ms Margaret Ansei, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), echoed the call for stronger institutional support, accessible financing, and improved market access to unlock the growth potential of women-led businesses.
Ms Ansei pointed out insufficient working capital as a significant hurdle, particularly for businesses aiming to secure large contracts and fulfill their financial commitments. The challenge lies in the fact that women-owned businesses often struggle to meet the immediate payment demands of suppliers while dealing with extended payment terms from clients.
This creates cash-flow issues that hinder business expansion, contract completion, and the pursuit of new market opportunities. Ms Ansei called on financial institutions and support organizations to design financing products that align with the operational realities of women-led enterprises. She also advocated for greater institutional collaboration and market linkages to bolster the competitiveness and sustainability of women-owned businesses.
The GWES 2026 convened government officials, development partners, financial institutions, industry leaders, and women entrepreneurs to explore strategies for enhancing women's involvement in entrepreneurship, trade, innovation, and industrial development. The Ghana Enterprises Agency, through its mandate to promote the growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), offers enterprise development support to bolster business competitiveness, stimulate job creation, and promote inclusive economic growth.
Written by urgent.news from The Chronicle Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
