By Stanley Senya
Accra, Nov. 11, GNA – Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the Vice-President, has called for expanded access to affordable financing, business development support and market opportunities to strengthen women-owned businesses and accelerate Ghana’s economic transformation.
She said women entrepreneurs played a critical role in expanding production, promoting value addition, developing agro-processing and driving industrial growth.
The Vice-President made the call at the opening of the Fifth Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit (GWES 2026), organised by the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) under the theme: “Empowering Women to Drive Trade, Innovation and Industrial Growth.”
Prof Opoku-Agyemang said Ghana’s economic transformation depended on increasing domestic production, processing more locally produced raw materials and strengthening linkages between local enterprises and larger industries.
“Ghana’s economic transformation depends on increasing production, processing more of what we grow, and building stronger links between local enterprises and larger industries. Women are central to this effort,” she said.
She urged stakeholders to support women-owned businesses to transition from small-scale operations into commercial production, manufacturing and industrial supply chains.
According to her, women entrepreneurs must be given opportunities to establish factories, expand their businesses and compete effectively in both domestic and international markets.
The Vice-President also highlighted the proposed Ghana Women’s Development Bank as a key intervention to address financing constraints facing women entrepreneurs and improve their access to affordable financial services.
She, however, emphasised that access to finance alone would not be sufficient to transform women-led businesses, noting that complementary support in skills development, quality standards, packaging, safety compliance and market access was equally important.
Such support, she said, would enable women-owned enterprises to meet the requirements of large buyers, supermarkets and export markets while creating jobs and contributing to industrial development.
Ms Margaret Ansei, Chief Executive Officer of the GEA, called for stronger institutional support, affordable financing and improved market access to unlock the growth potential of women-led businesses.
She said inadequate working capital remained a major challenge, particularly for enterprises seeking to execute large contracts and meet their financial obligations.
Ms Ansei explained that many women-owned businesses struggled to fulfil large orders because buyers often operated on extended payment terms, while suppliers required immediate payment.
The situation, she noted, created cash-flow pressures that limited the ability of businesses to expand production, fulfil contracts and take advantage of emerging market opportunities.
She urged financial institutions and business support organisations to develop financing products that reflected the operational realities of women-led enterprises.
Ms Ansei also called for stronger institutional collaboration and market linkages to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of women-owned businesses.
The summit brought together government officials, development partners, financial institutions, industry leaders and women entrepreneurs to discuss strategies for strengthening women’s participation in entrepreneurship, trade, innovation and industrial development.
The GEA, through its mandate to promote the growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), provides enterprise development support aimed at improving business competitiveness, promoting job creation and advancing inclusive economic growth.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah