Government’s proposed Women’s Development Bank has moved a step closer to becoming operational, with the committee tasked with its establishment completing its work and submitting a banking licence application to the Bank of Ghana for regulatory consideration.
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang disclosed this at the fifth Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit 2026, saying the application had been submitted through the Ministry of Finance and was awaiting the necessary regulatory review.
The proposed bank is expected to address longstanding financing challenges confronting women entrepreneurs, particularly market women, smallholder farmers and small business operators who often struggle to access affordable credit through conventional financial institutions.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang said the institution was being designed to respond to the actual financial needs of women, rather than simply replicate existing banking arrangements.
She explained that government deliberately constituted a diverse committee comprising market women, susu collectors, women entrepreneurs, financial professionals and other stakeholders to ensure that the proposed bank reflected the realities of its intended beneficiaries.
“The committee has completed its work, and an application has been submitted to the Bank of Ghana, where it is now undergoing the necessary licensing and regulatory review,” she said.
The Vice President said improving women’s access to finance was critical to expanding their businesses and enabling them to participate more meaningfully in Ghana’s economic transformation.
She stressed that the proposed bank would be particularly important to women who had traditionally faced difficulties accessing formal financial services despite their significant contribution to economic activity.
However, she indicated that access to credit alone would not be sufficient to transform women-owned businesses, stressing the need to complement financing with business development support, export training and access to markets.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang further called for deliberate efforts to position women in manufacturing, agricultural processing and other productive sectors as government pursues its industrialisation agenda.
She said stronger connections between agriculture and industry, particularly through local processing and value addition, would create opportunities for women-owned enterprises to expand beyond traditional trading activities.
The Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) Chief Executive Officer, Margaret Ansei, also called on public institutions and private companies to create fair procurement opportunities for women-led businesses and ensure prompt payment for goods and services delivered.
She warned that delayed payments could severely undermine the cash flow of small businesses, leaving entrepreneurs unable to pay workers, purchase inputs or execute subsequent contracts.
The fifth Ghana Women Entrepreneurship Summit brought together women entrepreneurs, policymakers, business leaders and development partners to discuss ways of improving women’s participation in trade, innovation and industrial development.
The proposed Women’s Development Bank is expected to become a dedicated financing avenue for women-owned businesses, although its operationalisation remains subject to approval by the Bank of Ghana.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
