Women entrepreneurs requires inspiration to accelerate development

Ghana requires inspiring the surge of more successful women entrepreneurs to accelerate the socio-economic development of this country.

This could be done by building the capacity of women to be competitive in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) market space to enable them leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) protocols.

Regardless of the challenges that women entrepreneurs face including negative social and cultural norms, lack of entrepreneurship skills, greater difficulty in accessing finance, and limited entrepreneurial networks and policy frameworks for the competitiveness of women entrepreneurs in Africa, they still contribute to the development of a nation.

Northern Regional Director of the Ministry of Trade and Industry Mr. Hamidu Hamza Saana, made the remarks at the GNCCI-GIZ Women Conference held at the Modem City Hotel in Tamale under the theme "Making AfCFTA Work through a Deliberate Inclusion of Women Entrepreneurs.”

The workshop organised by the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) and GIZ in collaboration with GIZ Trade Hub was to build the capacity of women entrepreneurs to be competitive in the ECOWAS market space, leveraging on the African Continental Free Trade Area(AFCFTA) protocols to grow their businesses.

It also aimed to furnish women with vital information on AfCFTA opportunities and strategies for their optimization, encompassing education on rules of origin, export financing, and export readiness. Moreover, the program is geared towards assisting women-owned businesses in addressing challenges pertaining to production capacity, access to raw materials, packaging, and machinery.

Sessions of this conference have already been conducted in two regional capitals of Ghana, namely Accra and Kumasi and we look forward to extending it to other regions.

“Entrepreneurship development offers good platforms for creating mass jobs and incomes as well as generating subsistence livelihoods for most women in the world,” he said.

"It will interest you to note, that much of the economic impact, innovation and job creation in the world has its origins in business operated by women entrepreneurs," he said.

"It is therefore imperative, that more focus is placed on helping female entrepreneurs and business owners to build high-growth companies because these ventures are promising from an economic growth and job creation standpoint, especially as women entrepreneurs are often more inclined to hire other women," he stressed.

Government he noted needs to focus more attention on supporting women as they scale up viable ventures and making them competitive hence the need to help female entrepreneurs and business owners to build high-growth companies.

National Treasurer of GNCCI Dr Emelia Assiakwa said women entrepreneurs and traders dominate the private sector, with approximately 44 percent of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana being owned by women according to the World Bank's 2021 report.

It becomes imperative to ensure that Ghanaian businesswomen and youth fully grasp the intricacies of the opportunities and challenges presented by the AfCFTA agreement.

“As we embark on a new financial year with a fresh government agenda, we do not overlook your significant contributions to the Ghanaian economy. Your unwavering commitment and resilience in the face of ongoing economic challenges do not go unnoticed,” she said.

"We remain unwavering in our commitment to collaborate with all stakeholders, including the AfCFTA Secretariat, to ensure that Ghanaian businesses reap the full benefits of the AfCFTA, irrespective of gender ownership," she added.

Chief Executive Officer for Agape Moringa Enterprise Mad. Esther Nabire expressed gratitude to GNCCI and GIZ for the capacity building to enhance their building.

She appealed to government and ECOWAS protocols to as a matter of urgent address the bureaucracy issues at the port hindering the export of local goods.