Vice President reaffirms commitment to women’s economic empowerment

The Vice President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to strengthening women’s economic empowerment through improved access to affordable financing, business development support and expanded market opportunities.

She said the establishment of the Women’s Development Bank was a major government intervention aimed at addressing the financial constraints facing women entrepreneurs and supporting the growth of women-owned businesses.

The Vice President made the remarks at the fifth Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit in Accra on Tuesday, where she highlighted the need to create an enabling environment for women to contribute more effectively to national economic development.

She also called for stronger linkages between agriculture and industry to enhance women’s participation in Ghana’s economic transformation.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang stressed the importance of combining access to finance with business development support, export training and market opportunities to enable women entrepreneurs to expand their operations and improve their competitiveness.

The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, outlined government interventions to strengthen women-owned businesses and improve their access to domestic and international markets.

She said more than 1,300 entrepreneurs had received export training and promotional support through partnerships with Trademark Africa and other development partners.

Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the Ministry was also implementing measures to improve access to finance, facilitate product certification, promote value addition and expand market access under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

She said the interventions were intended to enhance the competitiveness of women-owned businesses and enable them to take advantage of opportunities in the continental market.

Judith Twumwaa, ISD