Ghana’s efforts to expand women’s participation in business are facing a persistent obstacle: access to finance remains out of reach for many women-owned enterprises, limiting their ability to invest, expand operations and move into higher-value markets.
The financing challenge has come into focus again following discussions between the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) on a proposed initiative to expand economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs across targeted regions of the country.
The discussions focused on persistent gaps in access to capital, training, and markets, which continue to constrain the growth of women-owned businesses.
Recent data from the Bank of Ghana shows that the financing challenge remains pronounced for women-owned businesses. The Bank’s 2024 Financial Stability Review found that only 2,197 women-owned Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) accessed secured loans in 2024, down from 2,303 in 2023.
This came despite the number of female borrowers rising sharply from 189,006 to 339,241 over the same period, suggesting that the increase in women’s access to secured credit has been concentrated largely among individual borrowers rather than women-owned businesses.
The problem is not simply a shortage of businesses seeking funding. It is also linked to the way finance is structured and the conditions businesses must meet to obtain it.
Banks typically require borrowers to demonstrate repayment capacity, maintain financial records, and provide acceptable collateral. These requirements can be difficult for smaller and informal enterprises, many of which are operated by women.
Access to finance is also constrained by the conditions attached to formal lending. Smaller businesses often struggle to meet lenders’ requirements for reliable financial information, credit histories, and collateral, making it harder for them to qualify for bank financing.
A large share of Ghana’s MSMEs are informal micro and sole enterprises operated by women and young entrepreneurs.
This creates a difficult cycle for women entrepreneurs. Businesses that cannot access affordable capital struggle to purchase equipment, increase production, hire workers, or develop the systems needed to become more bankable. Limited scale then makes it harder to qualify for larger amounts of formal financing.
The financing gap also goes beyond traditional bank loans. Women entrepreneurs can face difficulties accessing equity, investment capital, trade finance and opportunities to participate in larger domestic and international value chains.
The GEA sees addressing these constraints as part of a wider economic objective, arguing that “inclusive enterprise development is not a side project, but a driver of national economic growth.”
The Agency said it will work with other state institutions to build the capacity of women in targeted areas, increase access to finance and opportunities, and create an environment where women-led businesses can grow and succeed.
Recent initiatives show that financial institutions and development partners are beginning to respond to the problem through mechanisms that reduce the risk of lending to women-owned businesses.
Financial institutions need products designed around the realities of smaller women-led enterprises, while development partners can help reduce the risks that make banks cautious about lending.
The proposed collaboration with AFD could add another layer of support by combining GEA’s local reach with development-finance expertise to address financing and capacity constraints in regions where women entrepreneurs have fewer opportunities.
Closing Ghana’s women enterprise financing gap is therefore not only a gender issue. It is a business and economic-growth issue. Expanding the flow of capital to viable women-led enterprises could give thousands of businesses the capacity to grow beyond micro and small-scale operations and contribute more substantially to Ghana’s economy.
