Kumasi, March 10, GNA – The Government of Ghana has been asked to make deliberate efforts to put in place strong and effective policies that will help address challenges facing women in the informal sector to protect their businesses.
The business environment must be made conducive for women to do their businesses without fear, since they contribute so much to economic growth.
Mrs Petra deGraft – Johnson, Coordinator for Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC), of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), a non-governmental organisation, which advocates against corruption, made the call in an interview with Ghana News Agency (GNA), in Kumasi.
She said it was encouraging to know that many women were venturing into entrepreneurship in the country and most of their established businesses were thriving.
They were, however, being confronted with problems relative to corruption in accessing services.
She said some of the problems were opaque business registration services at the registrar of businesses and District Assemblies, resulting in the payment of unapproved charges, extortion of monies by some customs officials and delays in the processing of official documents.
Other problems were delays in approval of products, from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and some men demanding sexual favours from women before services were provided.
Mrs Degraft – Johnson said it was to help protect businesses of women that the GII had been organizing workshops for women in the informal sector on Digitization and Voluntary Tax Compliance in the country.
This, she said was to sensitize them on the country’s tax digitisation agenda and the impact of non – tax compliance on private sector and businesses in the country.
She said there was the need to create empowering platforms for women entrepreneurs to discuss their challenges and successes.
Mrs Degraft-Johnson stressed the need for women to learn from their own personal stories to combat stereotyping and champion their course.
Additionally, it was imperative that women were equipped with information on the relevant laws and policies that governed businesses in the country as well as the various anti – corruption platforms, they could access to seek redress.
GNA