Supporting women-led businesses is critical to unlocking Africa’s economic potential, with studies showing that closing the gender financing gap could add trillions of dollars to the continent’s GDP.
Women entrepreneurs play a vital role in driving job creation, innovation, and sustainable development, yet they continue to face systemic barriers in accessing funding, markets, and business support.
Women play a crucial role in Ghana’s economy, contributing significantly to agriculture, trade, and entrepreneurship. They dominate the informal sector, making up about 80% of market traders, and own 44% of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), driving job creation and economic diversification.
In agriculture, women constitute about 50% of the workforce, ensuring food security and supporting rural economies. They also have a strong presence in the hospitality, healthcare, education, and financial sectors, contributing to Ghana’s high female labor force participation rate of over 57%.
While increasing financial inclusion through mobile money and SME financing, women still face challenges such as limited access to credit, land ownership restrictions, and gender biases.
The World Bank estimates that closing the gender gap in Africa could add $2.5 trillion to the continent’s GDP by 2025, underscoring the urgency of investing in women – not just for social justice, but for a more prosperous and equitable future for all Africans
Addressing these challenges is essential for fostering inclusive growth, empowering communities, and accelerating economic transformation across Ghana and other African nations.
Recognizing this, Ecobank has enhanced its multi-award-winning gender-financing solution, ‘Ellevate by Ecobank,’ to bridge the financing gap and provide tailored support to women-owned, women-led, and women-focused businesses. The bank has announced a Pan-African rollout of the enhanced programme, with a strategic expansion into Ghana and eight other African countries by the end of March 2025.
The initiative aims to accelerate the growth of women entrepreneurs while reinforcing Ecobank’s market competitiveness across the continent.
Jeremy Awori, Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Group, pledged the bank’s commitment to empowering female entrepreneurs, stating: “we recognise and applaud the role that women entrepreneurs play in driving socio-economic impact across Africa and are committed to supporting them at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey. Since the launch of the Ellevate programme, we have made significant progress, disbursing over US$200 million in loans, providing business networking opportunities, and offering leadership and capacity-building training for businesswomen.”
With its latest enhancements, the Ellevate programme now offers increased access to finance with unsecured loans of up to US$50,000, competitive interest rates, and more flexible collateral requirements. It also accommodates customers with a two-year track record instead of the industry-standard three years. Additionally, the programme will help women entrepreneurs expand their businesses by facilitating market access through the bank’s MyTradeHub platform, while also providing training, leadership development, wealth management services, insurance solutions, and a loyalty programme with exclusive discounts.
With its expansion, the Ellevate programme now extends beyond Commercial Banking customers to include Consumer Banking and Corporate Banking clients, as well as female business leaders who can serve as mentors. This allows both formal and informal sector entrepreneurs to benefit from enhanced financial and non-financial solutions tailored to their needs.
To coincide with International Women’s Day, Ecobank is set to launch the enhanced Ellevate programme in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Senegal, Togo, and Zimbabwe by the end of March 2025. The bank will roll it out in phases across its other sub-Saharan African affiliates throughout the year.
