Women entrepreneurs in Ghana are being encouraged to grow their businesses, add value to their products and compete in wider markets, with the government rolling out new financing, training and export support programmes to help them expand.
Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, says women-owned businesses should look beyond survival and position themselves for growth, with new interventions being introduced to help them access funding, improve product quality and connect with buyers.
Speaking at the Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit, she said the Ministry was working with the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), financial institutions and development partners to turn these opportunities into practical support for women-led enterprises.
Among the measures is dedicated financing support to help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) prepare bankable proposals and improve their chances of securing loans.
“We know that you have the plan. We need to make it presentable so that the banks will understand, will help you to speak the bank’s language so that you get access to finance,” Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said.
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She pointed to the Women’s MSME and Youth MSME interventions under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project as existing support for women- and youth-led businesses.
The proposed Women’s Development Bank is also expected to provide another avenue for women entrepreneurs seeking affordable financing.
The scale of existing support is reflected in the Ministry’s 2025 programme-based budget report, which shows that the GEA reached 495,809 women in 2024 through targeted business development services.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said the next priority was to help more women turn that support into stronger businesses, increased production, sustainable markets and jobs.
She also encouraged women entrepreneurs to take advantage of export opportunities through the Ghana Export Promotion Authority’s Accelerated Export Development Programme and Feed the Industry Initiative, which seek to connect local producers with buyers.
More than 2,800 businesses led by women, young people and persons with disabilities have received export readiness and cross-border trade training under the West Africa Trade Facilitation Programme, implemented with Trademark Africa and the World Bank.
The programme has covered Elubo, Aflao, Akanu-Nuape, Tamale and Sunyani, with Techiman expected to be next.
To help businesses meet the requirements of export markets, the Ministry is working with the Ghana Standards Authority and the Food and Drugs Authority on quality and food safety standards. A certification support programme is also being introduced to help MSMEs prepare their products for wider markets.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said women entrepreneurs had opportunities in agro-processing, food processing, textiles, garments, beauty and cosmetics, particularly if they moved from selling raw and unfinished products to producing finished, branded and certified goods.
She said the African Continental Free Trade Area offered a wider market for Ghanaian products, provided businesses could meet the required standards and compete on price.
Women’s Development Bank advances towards licensing
Adding to the prospects for women-owned businesses, Vice-President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang announced that an application for a banking licence for the proposed Women’s Development Bank had been submitted to the Bank of Ghana through the Minister of Finance for regulatory approval.
She said the bank was being designed to bring financial services within reach of women who have struggled to obtain affordable financing through conventional banking arrangements.
A committee comprising market women, susu collectors, representatives of women’s business associations and financial sector professionals was established to shape the institution and ensure that its services reflect the realities of women’s businesses.
The bank is expected to serve market traders, smallholder farmers, food processors, artisans and women entrepreneurs seeking to expand their operations.
Prof Opoku-Agyemang said the institution would do more than provide loans, offering financial services that respond to the circumstances in which women conduct their businesses.
She acknowledged that the bank would not resolve every challenge facing women entrepreneurs but said it would address one of their most persistent difficulties: access to affordable financing suited to their needs.
She also highlighted the importance of skills development in helping women turn business ambitions into viable enterprises, citing the GEA’s BizBox project, implemented with the Mastercard Foundation.
Graduates of the programme received start-up kits in Sunyani in September to help them apply the skills they had acquired.
The Vice-President said women would remain central to Ghana’s economic transformation, particularly through increased local production, agro-processing and stronger links between small businesses and larger industries.
For women entrepreneurs, she said, the opportunity was to take the businesses they had built as far as their ambition and ability could carry them.
