Accra, Aug. 18, GNA- A team of experts have set out to document the issues affecting market women in Ghana to inform policy decisions.
The Project, titled: “The Jolts Market Women in Ghana Face,” would culminate in the publishing of a book that would tell the real stories of market women and make recommendations to address the challenges identified.
Among the contributors of the Project are Professor Joseph Ofori-Dankwa, Professor of Management and holder of the Harvey Randall Wickes Endowed Chair of International Business, Deputy Commissioner of Police Vance Gariba, Dr Micah DelVecchio, Assistant Professor of Economics at Saginaw Valley State University, University Centre, USA, and Mrs Comfort Oduro-Nyarko, Co-Founder of the Makola Foundation.
In the next months, the experts and contributors drawn from diverse disciplines would work in different categories and explore specific jolts hampering the progress of market women and proffer measures to confront those challenges.
Prof. Ofori-Dankwa told the Ghana News Agency that the book would highlight the social justice implication of the jolts market women in Ghana face “from a relatively systematic perspective.
“We do not think that sufficient attention is being paid to the jolts and traumatic incidences that these market women face.
“Market women play a very pivotal role in our economic development and consequently this is an area of prioritisation that we want to heighten,” he said.
Mrs Oduro-Nyarko said one of the key jolts facing market women in Ghana was the lack of digital financial literacy skills, which, she said, exposed most market women to theft, particularly in the hands of some financial institutions.
She said market women who rented shops at the Makola Market also faced insurance challenges as the owners of the shops “do not insure the shops” at the detriment of the occupants of the shops in the event of a disaster.
DCOP Gariba advised market women to desist from carrying huge sums of money as doing so could expose them to robbery attacks.
He also urged market women who engaged the services of private persons to guard their shops to conduct thorough background checks and seek police clearance before hiring them.
“The markets need to establish liaison officers within the markets who would liaise with the Police periodically to sensitise them to understand basic security tips,” DCOP Gariba added.
GNA