When I Met Gifty Oware-Mensah: She Said Women’s Football Needed More Than Goals

When I first sat down with Gifty Oware-Mensah, then the Head of Admin and Finance at the National Service Secretariat, the conversation wasn’t about bureaucracy or government finance. It was about a dream — one that would change the trajectory of women’s football in Ghana.

She had invited me to discuss a bold new project: Berry Ladies FC, a women’s football club she was forming with a vision unlike anything the country had seen.

A Club With a Difference

Gifty wasn’t interested in building just another football team. She wanted Berry Ladies to be a home, a lifeline, and a launchpad for underprivileged girls. Her model was simple but revolutionary:

• House the players — giving them shelter and stability.

• Feed and nurture them — ensuring they could train without worrying about survival.

• Provide international pathways — offering players opportunities to play abroad for free, without taking a penny from their contracts.

Her motivation was clear: football should be a tool for empowerment, not exploitation. For too long, talented girls in Ghana had been left behind, with their dreams cut short by poverty, lack of resources, or a system stacked against them. Berry Ladies FC was her way of rewriting that story.

The Digital Transformation Angle

During our discussion, Gifty highlighted something many in Ghanaian football overlook: the power of digital presence. She had followed the work my company, SamBoad Business Group Ltd, and especially our creative arm, SamBoad Media Consult, had done in transforming brands like CocoVanilla Restaurant and the Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy, making it look like no advertisement was done but they were heard of.

She wanted Berry Ladies to lead the way digitally — not just in Ghana, but in Africa. To her, building a strong online presence wasn’t about vanity; it was about visibility, sponsorship, and storytelling. A women’s football club that understood branding and digital media could break barriers, attract global attention, and prove that Ghanaian women’s football was ready for the big stage.

Football as a Social Project

What impressed me most was that for Gifty, Berry Ladies wasn’t just about winning matches. It was about changing lives. By investing in underprivileged girls, she was investing in education, empowerment, and mobility. Each player was not just a footballer but a future ambassador for Ghana, carrying a story of resilience and opportunity.

Why It Mattered

In a country where women’s football has often been ignored, Berry Ladies FC represented a new way forward. It showed what’s possible when passion meets structure, and when leaders are willing to put players’ welfare above profit.

Meeting Gifty Oware-Mensah reminded me that women’s football in Ghana doesn’t just need supporters; it needs visionaries. And in Berry Ladies, she has created a blueprint that others should study, adopt, and scale.

If Ghana wants to build a football ecosystem that works for everyone, we need more leaders like her — bold enough to challenge the status quo, and determined enough to create systems that give every girl a chance to dream. Her vision for Women's Football was beyond her political career

— Samuel Kwame Boadu, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Accra Sports News