Women’s Access To Finance In Ghana Concerned– BoG
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison has expressed concern over the lack of funding for women-owned businesses in the country.
This Dr. Addison said is because women entrepreneurs encounter various obstacles when accessing finance
He explained that in Sub-Saharan Africa, the gender gap in access to finance, according to the World Bank’s 2021 Findex report, is at 12 percent, higher than the average of 6 percent for developing countries.
In Ghana, he said the gap in 2021 has widened to 11 percent, compared to the 9 percent that has continued since 2017, although the percentage of women accessing finance has increased from 27 percent in 2011 to 63 percent in 2021.
Despite the critical role of women in economic development, access to finance has been a major obstacle for women-owned businesses, Dr. Addison stated.
With an estimated $42 billion funding shortfall for African women-owned businesses as estimated by the African Development Bank (AfDB) across the value chain, women entrepreneurs face multiple barriers in accessing finance.
This, he said, translates into limited overall economic growth and sustainability, and lost opportunities for all.
“Indeed, it has been established by existing literature that increasing women’s access to finance has a positive impact on consumption levels, increasing economic growth and socioeconomic development, improving financial stability, and improving overall economic resilience.
“Overall, promoting gender-inclusive finance is a catalyst for rapid, sustainable, and resilient economic growth and socio-economic development.
“The market for finance for women-owned businesses in Africa remains largely untapped, and holds significant promise for financial institutions and governments to address. Ghana’s efforts in this regard are excellent, although much remains to be done.
“Ghana’s National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy (2017-2022) seeks to increase access to finance for women as part of a comprehensive strategy to increase financial inclusion to support inclusive macroeconomic growth and development.
“Other Government interventions such as credit lines for SMEs through Ghana Enterprises, the Ghana Women’s Fund, and others continue to provide a lifeline for women-owned businesses,” Dr Addison said at the launch of Affirmative Financial Action for Women in Africa. (AFAWA) Finance Series in Accra, Tuesday, February 28.
He further stated that on the part of the Bank of Ghana, in addition to providing a regulatory environment that promotes financial stability, we are fully committed to promoting inclusive finance and gender inclusive finance.
As a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, the Bank of Ghana has made a commitment under the Denarau Action Plan on Gender-Inclusive Finance, to promote gender-inclusive finance with an emphasis on promoting access, use and quality of financial services and products for women.
In November 2019, the Bank of Ghana launched the Sustainable Banking Principles of Ghana – a set of seven principles related to ESG, which calls on banks to promote financial inclusion and gender equality in their internal operations and in relation to the delivery of products and services. for the client.
Banks now report to the Bank of Ghana on a monthly basis, in line with these principles, and we expect a higher level of compliance.
“We believe that the AFAWA initiative will be critical in supporting banks with the necessary capacity building and funding sources to support efforts in improving other finance including gender,” Dr. Addison said.
By Vincent Kubi
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