BoG committed to supporting women entrepreneurs access finance at cost-effective rates – 2nd Dep. Governor
Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Elsie Addo Awadzi, has said the Central Bank is committed to promoting a policy and regulatory environment that supports inclusive and broad-based economic growth where all economic actors, particularly women and youth entrepreneurs, are able to innovate and access appropriate forms of finance and at cost-effective rates to help launch, grow, and sustain their businesses.
Delivering the keynote address at the graduation ceremony of Standard Chartered’s Women In Technology Business Incubation Programme, the Governor noted that female entrepreneurs in Ghana per the World Bank’s 2017 Global Findex Survey are eight percent less likely than men to get access to the kind of capital and other financial services and products that they need to start or scale up their businesses.
The lack of access to finance and business support services the Governor further noted tends to result in women-owned businesses remaining smaller and less profitable to businesses owned by men.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs Awadzi Addo called on banks in the country to help address the current gap in access to finance and business support services for female entrepreneurs through innovative partnerships.
“I call on other banks in Ghana to take a cue in the spirit of the Ghana Sustainable Banking Principles to help address the current gap in access to finance and business support services for female and youth entrepreneurs through innovative partnerships. It is imperative for all hands to be on deck as we find solutions to Ghana’s developmental challenges and ensure that no one is left behind in the new normal,” she posited.
Congratulating the first cohort of the incubator programme made up of 14 women entrepreneurs, Mrs Awadzi Addo urged the 14 beneficiaries of the programme to be bold and innovative in conceiving of their business ideas and to come out with real solutions to Ghana and Africa’s challenges keeping in mind opportunities presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and also to resolve to building strong and competitive businesses that can stand shoulder to shoulder with their peers across the African continent and beyond.
The Women in Tech Incubator (WIT) Programme is a collaboration between Standard Chartered Bank and the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre of the Ashesi University business incubator.
Championed by Standard Chartered, the Women in Tech Incubator Programme, is specifically designed for women-led or women-owned businesses that are applying technological innovation to their operations, or women owned tech start-ups.
With a total of 220 applicants of which 14 were selected from five regions across the country following a rigorous process, the 14 beneficiaries received entrepreneurship skills training over a four-month period, following which five of the 14 businesses received additional business support over a 10-week period and a grant of GHC57,000 each to help scale up their businesses.
Launched in 2014 in New York, Standard Chartered Bank’s WiT is now a global programme. In 2017 the first WIT incubator was launched in Africa and the Middle East region, with Kenya being the first market and have subsequently rolled it out in other key markets including Nigeria, UAE, Pakistan, Bahrain and Zambia with Ghana being the 7th market.
In three years, the Bank has provided over $500,000 to various programme cohorts in these markets along with financial backing, Standard Chartered also provides training, mentoring and access to a wider network of other companies for these entrepreneurs.
