The government has renewed its push to unlock large-scale investment in women-led businesses, declaring that Ghana cannot build sustainable prosperity while women entrepreneurs remain underfunded and underserved.
Speaking on behalf of Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang at the Women’s Investment Summit, Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, said the country must move beyond symbolic inclusion and commit to practical support for women in business.
“The theme, ‘Give to Gain,’ speaks to a simple yet important reality, which is that we cannot achieve sustained prosperity while under-investing in the women who drive our markets, households, businesses, and communities.” - Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang
Women dominate MSMEs but face structural barriers
The Vice President’s message underscored the central role women play in Ghana’s economy, particularly in the micro, small and medium enterprise sector.
“Women-owned businesses comprise about 44% of our Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises,” the statement noted, while cautioning that “participation does not always translate into opportunity.”
Despite their strong presence in the economy, women entrepreneurs continue to face persistent barriers including limited access to finance, weak investment support, exclusion from supply chains, poor access to export markets and gender-based bias.
“Resilience, under these conditions, is not enough. Without the right support, it leads to fatigue rather than growth,” the Vice President warned.
Women’s Development Bank to support female entrepreneurs
A major highlight of the summit was confirmation that government will soon launch the Women’s Development Bank, an initiative aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs, especially those operating at the grassroots.
According to the Vice President, the bank is being designed to provide “concessional, collateral-free loans, financial literacy, business development services, credit guarantees, and rural economic outreach among others for women entrepreneurs at the base of the pyramid.”
She added that “the case for investing in women is already established,” insisting that this government intends to make that commitment real.
The Vice President outlined a broader policy direction focused on unlocking patient capital, integrating women into supply chains and expanding access to export and cross-border trade opportunities.
“All this is so that we move from inclusion to investment, participation to ownership, and potential to scale,” she said.
Also addressing the summit, CEO of the Oxford Africa Women Leadership Institute, Mrs. Odelia Ntiamoah, called for stronger partnerships and catalytic funding to help transform women-led enterprises into scalable businesses capable of driving national growth.
