Second Deputy of the Central Bank, Elsie Addo Awadzi, has said Ghanaian women lag behind their male counterparts by eight percent in access to finance.
According to her, the limited access to finance by women and particularly women-owned businesses result in the inability of women-owned or led businesses to create the needed scale to connect to global value chains and become economically significant.
She made the above assertions at the launch of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana’s Women in Technology Incubator Programme.
Speaking at the event, the Second Deputy Governor noted the distributional effects of the pandemic on women have been enormous as many of them have lost their jobs and businesses, pushing them out of both formal and informal employment and business and further widening the gender gap in access to finance.
“The benefits of retooling such women entrepreneurs to start new businesses or gain new employment leading women-led businesses will translate into more growth for the Ghanaian economy,” she said.
“By this initiative, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana is helping to bridge the gap in financing for women-owned/led businesses and therefore helping to promote more inclusive economic growth and impact,” she added.
The Second Deputy Governor further noted that the policy and regulatory environment in Ghana is supportive of Standard Chartered Bank’s initiative as government’s National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy seeks to close Ghana’s gender gap of 8 per cent by 2023.
Read below details of Governor Elsie Awadzi’s speech at the WIT launch:
Mrs Addo Awadzi Key Note Address at SCB WIT Launch – 30 11 2020 Final by Fuaad Dodoo on Scribd
